GREENSBORO, N.C. — This Father’s Day is nearly 50 years in the making for this father-son duo. 

What You Need To Know

A pair of DNA test kits and a bit of spit united a father and son

Hung Nguyen was born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. as a teenager. He’s lived in Greensboro for 30 years

Wayne Haines almost never got the chance to meet his son, as he suffered a massive heart attack just weeks before hearing the news

Wayne Haines was visiting his daughter in northern Virginia when he fell ill in June 2021. His daughter took him to the emergency room, where he suffered a widow-maker heart attack. Doctors were able to save his life only because he was already in the cardiac unit when the attack came on. While he was recovering, he got a phone call from his daughter. 

“My daughter calls me and says, ‘Dad, did you do something in Vietnam that you just haven’t told us about?'” Haines said.

Haines’ grandson took a 23andMe DNA test to explore his ancestry, but in the process he connected with a newfound first cousin. This prompted Haines’ daughter to dig a little deeper. 

More than 600 miles away in Greensboro, Hung Nguyen welcomed a new grandson, Eli. The first thing his parents noticed was his bright red hair, an uncommon trait in their Vietnamese family. Nguyen’s son took a DNA test to try to find out where that gene came from. He also found a new relative, Haines’ grandson. 

Haines served as an infantryman in Vietnam for one year in the 1970s. After a few major engagements, he had a week of R-and-R leave where he traveled to Thailand and spent his last two days in Saigon. 

“I met a young lady, and we had spent time together,” Haines said. 

A few months later, Nguyen was born. He and his mother left Vietnam for the United States when he was a teenager. He settled in Greensboro and raised three sons. He always wondered what his father looked like but never searched for him out of fear of rejection. 

“I got a couple of friends that try to find their dad, but they would either get denied, for that I was scared,” Nguyen said.

As Haines recovered from his heart attack in a Virginia hospital, he discovered he has a son that he’s never met just a few hours away in North Carolina. Haines and his wife, Christina, decided to drive down the following weekend to meet Nguyen for the first time. Once they met, Haines says the resemblance was undeniable. 

“Family is family and having the opportunity to spend time with family, and get to know family you didn’t know. We went to war, these situations happened and these children were born, no fault of their own, and I think it’s important that people open their hearts and acknowledge that,” Haines said. 

The pair took their own DNA test to confirm the connection. A few weeks after their initial meeting, Haines and his wife threw a birthday party for Nguyen. They also decided to take a break from RV life and moved to Greensboro to be closer to their newfound son and his family.

Now, the Haineses and the Nguyens eat dinner together almost every evening. This will be the first Father’s Day they’ve spent together for 49 years.