Vietnam Veterans In Downtown New York
The footwear of a veteran soldier is pictured during an event honoring Vietnam Veterans in downtown New York March 29, 2014. The names of some 1,741 citizens of the city who died in service during the Vietnam War were read out by veterans and family members during a ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Plaza earlier in the day. Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

Two Navy shipmates and Vietnam War veterans got back in each other's company after 38 years of fruitless searching. Rick Mueller and Joe Martinez were colleagues in 1971 on the U.S.S. White Plains. "They called us M&M - Martinez and Mueller," Martinez said proudly, according to FoxNews.

On Sept. 25, Rick Mueller's search came to a close with a letter from his friend, Joe Matinez. On that Thursday afternoon, it was not Rick but his wife, Marla Mueller, who got the mail. The name Joe Martinez, which was scrawled on the return address, excited her, as it used to buzz in the house.

She went up to Rick to deliver the good news. He immediately went into "shock," according to Le Sueur News-Herald. He said he could not open it right away, but when he did, he found it was just a short note asking if he was "Mud." That had been Rick's nickname from 1971 to 1974 when he was a Vietnam soldier in the Navy on the U.S.S. White Plains AFS-4 supply ship.

The letter said he hoped it was the same Rick and that he had been trying to reach him. "You were my best friend," Martinez had written. The note included Martinez's phone number, but Mueller's tears just began to pour out after that. For an hour, he was sobbing. It brought back a flood of memories. The two boys had shared a room in the U.S.S. White Plains supply ship, which brought them close. They had travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Japan together, too.

They were just two boys from Denver and Le Sueur, but it was the M&M friendship that brought them close. Martinez left for home one year earlier than Mueller, but after he got discharged, Mueller only saw Martinez once during his wedding in Denver in 1975. After that, they lost touch.

In 1976, Mueller tried to look up his friend at a gas station and called all the Joe Martinezes he could find, but could not connect. Joe Martinez lived as a name in the Mueller family and their first born was named Joe after his old war buddy.

Marla was bowled over by the two-hour conversation that Rick had with Joe over the phone. Upon clearing fears about their health due to the Agent Orange scare, Rick allotted some vacation time to reunite. Although Rick and Marla were not able to save up for their trip due to short notice, the community, touched by the news, brought some money together for them once the story was out.

Finally, the two made it and met last weekend. Check it out on Facebook.

(Credit: YouTube/News Now)