This is an amazing, moving story about two long-lost friends, separated by national tragedy and the notorious killing fields of war-torn Cambodia, who were reunited decades later in the United States through a chance encounter on, of all things, Facebook: Blood brothers.Willam Buth and Sonan Samreth were teenage friends and classmates in Cambodia. They were separated when the Khmer Rouge forces took over the country in 1975, and each believed the other had died during Pol Pot's savage regime. Turns out, both had eventually made their way to the United States. And nearly forty years later, Facebook brought them back together:
The Facebook account was his wife's idea.It's awesome story that brought tears to my eyes. The power of Facebook, reuniting friends from war-torn homelands. And you just thought your favorite social network was only good for stalking. (It is quite good for stalking.) Another point for Zuckerberg.
"I never thought about it," said William Buth, who teaches math at Cesar Chavez High School. "But my wife thinks that this is a good idea - to share her pictures so that friends and relatives from all over the country can see. ... She explained to me how to open an account, how to set it up."
Earlier this summer, soon after registering, Buth received a message from another Facebook user - someone he didn't recognize at first.
"I did not know what was going on," he said. He ignored it.
But two days later, there was another message: "I'm so sorry, but you look really familiar, like my friend since 1974. Sitha Buth."
It was a name William Buth hadn't used in decades.