For nearly half a century, Carrboro resident Wendy Bryan has been pondering the fate of six men in a photo taken in 1970. Now, she’s asking the public for help.

Bryan, formerly Wendy Dascombe, was crowned Miss USA in 1969. As part of her reign, she toured the nation, flying to 57 American cities. At a stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, she slipped away from her handlers and chaperones to greet a group of young men in military fatigues.

“I just shot out of the range of all the important officials and went over there,” recalls Bryan. “I said, ‘you guys having fun?’ They all cracked up and said, ‘yeah, we’re going to Vietnam.’”

The plane carrying the troops to Vietnam had landed in Hawaii following engine trouble.

A photographer snapped a photo that shows Bryan, beaming, wearing a miniskirt and Hawaiian lei, surrounded by half a dozen smiling soldiers. Though everyone pictured is in high spirits, Bryan says the men told her they were all draftees.

“They are my image of that war. The hope and promise in the faces of these young men represented anyone who went to and served in that war.”

This was near the height of the war, just months before the invasion of Cambodia. Bryan says she’s wondered ever since what happened to the men in the photo.

“I can honestly say there hasn’t been a day since then that I haven’t thought about them and wondered where they are, if they did survive, how their families are. These were young men.”

Bryan posted the picture on Facebook this past Memorial Day, asking friends and family to help spread the word. She hopes the picture may trigger memories, though she says she knows this story might not have many happy endings.

“My dream of dreams is to have at least one of these people to be alive, healthy, have a great family story. I know that the odds are against all of those people still being with us, but I still want to know.”

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