Danish pop star Zindy feels the love from long lost Vietnam War veteran father

Danish pop star Zindy Laursen meets her lengthy misplaced father, U.S. Military veteran Invoice Johnson, for the primary time in Louisiana, Jan. 26, 2022. (Zindy Laursen)

Danish pop star Zindy Laursen’s new launch, “The Two of Us,” coming this month, is the coda, she stated, to a decade-long seek for the daddy she by no means knew, an American veteran of the Vietnam Conflict.

Laursen, 50, recognized merely as Zindy again in Denmark, wrote the music for her father, Invoice Johnson, 72, of Baker, La., after a DNA take a look at in November revealed that the Military veteran was, in reality, her dad.

Johnson, a retired police captain, met Zindy’s mom, Viviann, on 10-day’s relaxation and recuperation in Sydney in October 1970. He served with the Military’s 282nd Assault Helicopter Firm, primarily based at Danang, Vietnam, he advised Stars and Stripes by cellphone on Wednesday.

He headed again to the USA after his yearlong tour, by no means understanding he had fathered a daughter in Australia.

“It’s a narrative about by no means giving up and by no means giving up hope,” Zindy advised Stars and Stripes by cellphone on Wednesday. The pair met head to head for the primary time final month when Zindy traveled to Baker for Johnson’s birthday.

“It was the very best birthday present an individual might obtain when she hugged her dad for the primary time,” Johnson stated. “She stored calling me daddy and that was very thrilling. I might really feel the love coming from her and my love going out to her. It’s simply been a superb 2022 for me.”

Zindy is Johnson’s solely organic youngster, he stated.

Danish pop star Zindy Laursen meets her lengthy misplaced father, U.S. Military veteran Invoice Johnson, for the primary time in Louisiana, Jan. 26, 2022. (Zindy Laursen)

Pop star Zindy Laursen is thought in Denmark as simply Zindy. She searched greater than 30 years to study the id of her father, who turned out to be an American veteran of the Vietnam Conflict. (Anne-Sofie Hjort)

Pop star Zindy Laursen is thought in Denmark as simply Zindy. She searched greater than 30 years to study the id of her father, who turned out to be an American veteran of the Vietnam Conflict. (Bjorn Vido)

Zindy grew up within the small fishing city of Esbjerg, Denmark, she stated. Her mom was a go-go dancer in Australia in the course of the struggle and would typically befriend American service members on depart. Zindy grew up imagining this mysterious American GI that her mom had met dancing.

In her childhood, Zindy, being mixed-race, struggled along with her racial id, she recalled. She was known as the N-word and bullied and teased by children in class. Impressed by Prince, she started taking part in music, she stated, and wrote her first music at 15.

In 1992, Zindy was the runner-up for the possibility to symbolize Denmark within the Eurovision Track Contest. She was subsequently scouted by report labels. She has toured the world ever since, starred on stage and display and has bought over 2 million information, in accordance with her web site.

Regardless of her success, she by no means stopped on the lookout for her father. She had all however given up hope when final 12 months she met Brian Hjort ready in line for a coronavirus take a look at at a Copenhagen health club. Hjort began Father Based, a reunification group, after a visit to Vietnam in 1992. He acknowledged Zindy and supplied to assist.

Zindy submitted a DNA pattern to Ancestry.com due to its entry to a storehouse of army information, she stated. Hjort dropped by Zindy’s home in November with information.

He requested Zindy to cowl her eyes, she recalled. When she opened them, she was head to head with a photograph of her father.

“I cried,” she stated with fun. “I believed, ‘Is that this my dad? In any case these years, can this actually be taking place to me?’”

Zindy’s subsequent thought was to name Johnson immediately, she stated. Hjort steered that his group make first contact; studying that they conceived a toddler so way back can come as a shock to somebody, he stated.

“At first, I believed this was a rip-off,” Johnson stated.

However then he noticed Zindy on a video name. The resemblance was uncanny. And the DNA take a look at he submitted was a 99.9% match.

“I stated, ‘Oh my God, she is my daughter!’” Johnson stated.

Zindy was impressed to study that Johnson, too, had risen from poverty to grow to be the primary African-American police officer in Zachary, La., a metropolis of about 20,000 simply exterior Baton Rouge. He coached youth sports activities and led anti-drug packages.

The pair hit it off instantly, singing and laughing collectively. The 2 look alike, sound alike and present comparable persona traits.

Johnson held a barbeque for Zindy’s go to in January. She met her giant, prolonged household and introduced Johnson to tears singing “Glad Birthday.” Now, they discuss by cellphone almost every single day.

Johnson subsequent plans to go to Zindy in Denmark to see the place she grew up.

“It’s a miracle from God that Zindy got here into my life and my household’s life,” Johnson stated. “I plan to proceed to share my love for the remainder of my life for her.”

“I’ll all the time love my Dad, that’s for certain,” Zindy replied. “It was a dream come true.”

Matthew M. Burke

Matthew M. Burke has been reporting from Okinawa for Stars and Stripes since 2014. The Massachusetts native and UMass Amherst alumnus beforehand lined Sasebo Naval Base and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, for the newspaper. His work has additionally appeared within the Boston Globe, Cape Cod Occasions and different publications.