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MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Picture of Verna Ball-and Len Van Roon before he went to war. WW2 veteran Len Van Roon, 103, refused to marry his girlfriend Verna before he was deployed for fear of leaving her a widow should he die in combat. Throughout his four years in the army Van Roon wrote 1,100 love letters to her. The couple were married for 64 years before Verna died in 2011, aged 90. Reporter: RV Kitching 250205 - Wednesday, February 05, 2025.