Carriers celebrate 70th anniversary

Eileen and Robert Carrier as they appear today...

Seventy years ago, Robert and Eileen Carrier fell in love and were married in Ontario, Ore., on March 1, 1944.

They celebrated their honeymoon at Castle Hot Springs, Ariz., for three weeks before returning to WWII.

They have been living in Mountain Home for 30 years.

According to family members, while the couple were dating, Robert gave Eileen a locket with their pictures in it when she was 15 (the locket is in both pictures on this page). Robert told Eileen at the time that he had to go to war but would be back to marry her.

After surviving in the high-risk job of being a gunner, when he turned 18 he hitched rides on planes to get home and asked permission to marry her.

The couple's family gave them "the reception they never had" last weekend. Friends and family helped celebrate the couple's wedding milestone.

The Carriers have three children, seven grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren (with one more on the way).