everything just began to shake. have you seen her? i wouldn't know what i'd do without her. >> it looked like the world was ending. >> growing up in indiana, tsunamis and earthquakes are the things that you on see in hollywood films. >> he was sure his world had ended. the love of his life was missing. >> that feeling that she's not all right began growing as each minute went by. >> strangers in a strange land. they'd fallen in love, then the quake hit, and all he knew was that her town was gone. >> come hell or high water i was getting into that damned town.

>> that's where he headed, right into that hell, risking his life to try to save hers. >> fire on the hill, fire on the water. >> but could he get there in time? >> i've never loved someone the way i loved georgia. >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's keith morrison with "swept away." >> who can say what lurks out there? past the horizon? waiting impersonally, utterly at random, as thousands of lives tick to their unknowing ends, and simple coincidences. young man from middle america made a single decision. could you imagine back there in indiana that you're about to make your life flip on its head at this point? >> no. no, never. >> how could he know that on the other side of the world a young woman made exactly the same decision, or that they'd meet practically on the eve of one of the biggest natural disasters in

recent memory. or how could he know that in the middle of disaster, he'd lose her. >> i wouldn't know what i'd do without her. >> so coincidence? love? disaster. there is no fairness about these things. they just are. zac brown had turned 33 in 2010. had just picked up a degree in history from a college in indiana. no idea what to do next. and then he saw an offer for a job in japan, a two-year stint teaching english to elementary school kids. no japanese language skills required. why japan, of all places? >> i don't think there was any rhyme or reason to it. it was just offered to me and i, i jumped on it. >> the town they sent him to in ajanuary called kuji was a long,

long way from his hometown of nashville, nashville, indiana. on sundays he skyped with his parents, john and terry. john is a musician, and terry a school guidance counselor. how did he seem to be doing? >> it was rough at first. >> um-hum. >> the language thing was the big thing. >> you were a stranger in a strange land. >> yes. >> was it a lonely feeling? >> yes. it was. but it was made better by the fact that there were other foreign teachers in town. >> along with the teachers, there was one other person, a volunteer who helped the foreign teachers adjust. local english-speaking businessman named kenji hirayama. kenji is a pretty accomplished guitarist, found out that zach was, too. >> i love it, ordinary songs and also he played guitar and played it well.

>> kenji pulled out an old gibson and handed it to zach. >> he said "consider it yours while you're here." >> zach took that i go garr to school trying to break the ice. >> i would play music for them. i think that that kind of helped break down that barrier a bit. >> three weeks in, overwhelmed by home sickness he called his parents. he had had enough. >> as maybe embarrassing as it is i was actually crying. "i can't do this anymore. i want to come home." >> and we said, "no, you made a commitment. you're a man. you gave your word." >> how hard was it to say that? >> really hard. >> very hard. >> i may have hung up the phone a bit angry at home because it wasn't the answer i wanted to get but in retrospect i'm really glad. >> but zach tried to make it work, and then one night, when the teachers got together, there was someone new, another teacher just returning from a sunny vacation. >> there was this beautiful, tanned georgia coming back from owe asia.

>> 23-year-old georgia robinson, a recent university gad rat herself from new zealand. she'd been teaching ad hlibbing in a nearby town called noda. in october they went to a karaoke bar. >> found out she was a huge fan of kiss. myself loving rock 'n' roll that sparked my interest. >> did it seem to be the same way the other way around? >> actually no because i didn't hear anything from her after that fight. >> no idea that back in new zealand, georgia's cousin, chelsea, started hearing about a guy named zach. >> she said that he was really outgoing and really nice person who was interested in all the same sort of things as her, like the same music, same movies. >> then a few weeks later she called him. ♪ having the time of your life. >> here they are practicing with

other teachers for a december dance group performance. >> from then on we ended up spending progressively more and more time together. >> it was a happy man who went home to indiana for christmas. zach introzeused his man to georgia. sort of. >> i meter on skype and she was not feeling well, she had the flu. >> what did you think about the relationship with the girl so far away? >> we weren't putting that much stock in it. >> we were grateful that he had someone to spend time with. >> i was talking to my mom, and she's like, so you really, you really care for georgia, don't you? i was like yeah. and my mom got a bit choked up, well, what happens if you move to new zealand? i had to assure my mother and say, that's never going to happen, mom. >> come january, zach seemed eager to get back to japan, and then two months later, friday, march 11th, 2011, the day before

his father's birthday -- >> i'd actually spent a lot of the day writing my dad a nice big birthday e-mail. i had hit "send" on that e-mail and was talking to georgia on gmail chat and "i'll see you after rehearsal" and then -- >> boom. >> -- boom. everything just began to shake. i was in an office chair with wheels and so immediately as it started the chair was just kind of began to slide. things are falling off the shelves. >> zach had never been in an earthquake, but his co-workers knew this one awas big. worried that the building might collapse, they ran downstairs and out to the parking lot. but soon they were told it was okay. it was over. but when the shaking stopped, the disaster was just beginning. there was a monster out there over the horizon called fate and it was coming very fast. almost as soon as zach got back

to his desk, warning sirens went off, and seen zach knew what that meant. and if the tsunami was heading to his town of kuji two miles inland, what was it going to do on the coast in noda, where georgia was? >> what had happened to georgia? had anyone in her town survived the tsunami? >> it was unrecognizable, it was destroyed. >> zach knew he had to find her, and a world away, zach's parents still hadn't found him. >> this can't be happening. are you sure it's where zach is? t is a story. tell yours with my open hearts collection at kay jewelers the number one jewelry store

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in nashville, indiana, john and terry whitcomb had barely had a sip of their morning tea when the news jolted them away. an epic earthquake had hit northern japan, 9.0, near the top end of the richter scale. and then a huge tsunami crashing up the coast. it was like watching a disaster movie. this one horribly real, and john and terry's son, zach, was now right in the middle of it. what did you think? >> unreal. this can't be happening. are you sure it's where zach is? are you sure it's in the same region, and we were looking at maps, and you know, everything was pointing to, yes, it's exactly where zach is, and -- >> we just prayed. >> enormous waves you see here were witting noda, kuji, the towns where zach and georgia were teaching.

the frantic calls began, but no ava avail. and what happened? >> it would say all circuits are busy and that you'd get a busy signal. >> and then the minutes went by. >> uh-huh. >> anden th then an hour, two h. what did that feel like? >> hell. >> as a parent you never think oh, my child's been killed. you don't think that. we just wait. you just wait, and just pray for the best. >> and remember, zach had wanted to come home months earlier but terry and john had encouraged him to stay to live up to his commitment. how much did you beat yourself up about that? >> i did. >> seemed right then, but now? >> it was just a helplessness of we're way over here and there's not a thing we can do. >> georgia's family in new zealand, including cousin chelsea, were just as scared and just as helpless. >> when my friend got a text that there had been a massive

tsunami in japan, obviously we all freaked out, because georgia was over there. >> they turned on the tv and saw images from noda, the little coastal town why georgia was based. >> it was unrecognizable from images she had sent to us, that they were destroyed. there was debris everywhere. >> and georgia, though they tried and tried, was unreachable. >> we really thought that she'd gone. kind of lost hope, i guess. >> tonight we're watching the rising death toll. the world is watching japan and our coverage -- >> back in indiana that night, the news ever worse, john turned on his computer and read that last e-mail from zach. >> he sent it at literally two minutes before the earthquake hit, and it said -- >> what greeting? >> birthday greeting. >> said what? >> "happy birthday, love you." >> it said much more than that, though.

>> dearest rockin' papi, happy birthday. woo hoo, the big 5-0. the more and more time we spend apart the more and more i realize how amazing of a father and friend you have been to me over the years and have always given me a perfect example of how a man and a husband is to treat a woman and his wife. >> my gosh. >> i'm thinking my god is this the last thing i hear from my son, you know? >> and it's that. >> yes. >> good morning. disaster in japan. >> saturday morning, more than 24 hours since they'd had any communication with their son. >> by 8:30, we still hadn't heard anything, and still woke up to more, even more horrible images, and then even had time to think about the death toll. >> the death toll. >> and all that. it was just compounding and compounding and compounding. >> and then? about the moment all seemed lost? another e-mail arrived, not from zach. it was from kenji, that

volunteer mentor in japan, just a few words. and they meant everything. >> brandon-san survived. basically that was all it said. >> what was that like? >> of course we wanted more detail. >> it was relief. >> zach was alive, all they needed to know for now, but georgia? still no word. well, his parents worried about him at home, zach was riding out the chaos in kuji. >> i wasn't really sure what was going on at first. >> after the shaking stopped, zach and his co-workers moved up to the top floor of the kuji city hall, a sort of crow's nest, with a view of the whole city and the coastline. so if something is going to happen, this is where you'd see it. >> yes. >> and then he saw it, something about the rivers that split the city and normally flow out to the sea. >> the river was beginning to flow in the opposite direction.

the water began to change color as well. it began growing from this kind of bluish color to being very murky. >> even four stories up, zach could hear the roaring river. >> it went from just having small debris, like trees and other rubbish that was around the harbor and stuff coming in to boats and vehicles, you know, to much larger and much more substantial things coming. >> cars and things come along? >> yes, picked up along the coast. >> that is getting scary then, right? >> yes. >> of course, zach hadn't seen the footage that everybody outside the country had seen, towns wiped off the map, thousands missing. he couldn't know how bad it was. did your mind turn at all when you were up here to what's going on down there where georgia is? >> i hoped she would be doing the same thing i was, that she would be in a safe location. >> a safe location. was there such a thing where georgia was?

as water around them began to recede and zach and his co-workers came downstairs, he realized everybody was incredibly quiet. >> and people's expressions had changed so drastically to just looks of genuine fear. that's when i thought, you know, i myself was scared. >> now he understood. if the wave got as far as his town further inland, it had to have hit georgia's town, right on the coast. what happened to all those people there? to georgia? and suddenly he knew. he had to find this girl. just had to. >> i wanted to see her and i wanted could comfort her as well. >> no idea what would be waiting for you at that end? >> no, not the slightest. >> there's a moment in some lives that defines everything that comes after. the test. the trial. this was zach brandon's test to pass or fail.

>> coming up. >> i've never loved someone the way i loved georgia. >> but sometimes love doesn't conquer all. >> fire's on the hill, fire on the water, and it was complete scene of destruction. >> when "dateline" continues. a space needle! ♪ foghorn sounds loudly continuously ♪ oh come off it captain! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. at ewe love weekends.car, and we're making it easier than ever to getaway with our $9.99 weekend ecials. get a great weekend car...at a great weekend price. pick enterprise. we'll pick you up.

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zach brandon didn't fully comprehend how bad it was. the tremendous earthquake and the deadly wall of water that followed it was out more than 18,000 lives. tens of thousands of homes, whole towns were being swept away, but zk did nach didn't kn yet. >> i just wanted to find georgia, my best friend and wanted to know she was all right. >> he kept telling himself he was all right. the coast where georgia lived was protected by massive concrete sea walls and barriers. so your first thought wasn't oh god, she's in trouble, it was oh, god, thank god there's a wall there. >> it's there. there's just no possible way it could have gotten over that.

>> how did you find out that you were wrong? >> well, i decided i just left. i left work. >> back in indiana, zach's parents, relieved their son was alive, got another e-mail. zach was going to look for georgia. >> now a whole new set of concerns like, i wasn't even exactly sure where she was, so once we figured out that, we looked it up on the map and well, it wasn't far away, but we just -- >> it was even closer to the coast. >> it was closer to the coast. >> wondering what he might find. >> yes. >> he was over there by himself and what would he do if he didn't find her. it was just, you know, it was all those things. >> zach hopped in his car and began the eight-mile drive down the winding drive from kuj toi noda. >> as i come down the hill i start noticing people are walking on the side of the road, no cars, but they're just

walking, whole families walking, and i just saying to myself, that's odd. that's strange. as i got closer, i could see what looked like to be a house on its side, just in the middle of the road. i was really confused, because where were the tsunami walls? >> police had set up a barricade, and beyond -- what did you see over there? >> it was just complete destruction, you know. there had been like a lot of houses heated with kerosene, so kerosene tanks have been knocked over throughout the tsunami and because of the downed power lines actually sparked fires. fires on the hill, fire on the water. >> debris everywhere. >> yes. so i mean, it was just a complete scene of destruction really. >> zach, almost in shock, walked

toward the barricade blocking the road. >> there was a police officer, and he just said to me, "dangerous, no," and just kind of began trying to escort me back towards where i had parked my car. >> so zach got in his car and drove back to kuji, trying to tell himself it would be okay, that georgia was fine. but the scene behind the barricade was chaos, disaster, was obvious. there were many casualties, it was pretty clear how many, it was impossible to know. but zach understood as he was turned away by the guard that one person's anxiety could not be allowed to trump public safety, but yet at that very moment, he understood with absolute clarity he had to find out what happened to the girl behind the barricade. he had to, if she was alive or dead or injured, had to because she was the love of his life. he sent message after message by text. >> in vain. you know, knowing that they

weren't going through but just hoping. you know, little messages of encouragement, "i love you, i hope everything's all right. i'm going to come look for you. i've tried. just know i'm coming." >> what were you thinking? >> i wouldn't -- i wouldn't know what i'd do without her. >> i guess that's the first time you really had to confront it in a serious way, right? >> yes. i had -- i had never loved someone the way i loved georgia. and so i, i guess i just hoped that she was going to be all --

you know, she was going to be fine and i was going to -- >> probably didn't sleep much that night? >> no. >> the aftershocks went on all night. so did tsunami warnings. >> so you're thinking, is there going to be another tsunami coming through? you know, it's -- wow. i didn't really sleep. >> at 5:30 a.m., he knew what he had to do. we left a note on his apartment door, just in case georgia made it there. >> and i said, "georgia, i'm coming to look for you. if for some reason you make it into kuji, stay here. if i haven't found you by sundown, i'm coming right back here, so know i'm coming back." >> and then he got in his car again, and headed toward the coast. >> and i just decided nearly come hell or high water i was

getting into that damned town. >> but how? he'd certainly be facing hell and high water. but perhaps the biggest problem? was the japanese army, blocking the road. >> coming up. was time running out for georgia? had zach lost the love of his life? >> that feeling that she's not all right, it became growing as each minute went by. my guests are "nathan, which dish is better?".

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as the sun rose over the ruined coastal towns of northern japan, zach brandon approached the barricade outside georgia's town, noda, determined to get past it, no idea how. >> i parked awe little further out this time and started walking in and they still had the police officers and the defense force there with their road block. but i noticed what looked like to be a group of locals with shovels and other gear. i'm assuming to go in to try to start clearing paths through the town. so i thought that's my way in. >> those civilian volunteers seemed to have official permission to get in and clearly knew where they were going. >> so i just pulled my hood up

and hopped in line with them and at that point no one was kind of looking around. >> he slipped past the police line, followed the group up a path away from the main road. he knew where he'd go first, if he could. so your first destination was her apartment. >> yes. hoping that i'd find her sitting down on her floor reading a book. >> the path led up a hill past this shrine, descended back down to a horrific scene. noda was almost unrecognizable. >> there were these massive walls of debris of these houses toppled over boats, you know, just anything you could imagine, you know? i mean, metal electric poles just bent as if someone had just come through and doop! >> but he knew georgia's place was on a hill. if she'd gone there before the tsunami hit, she'd be all right. but when he got there -- >> no sign that she was there. everything was still left exactly the way we had left it from the previous morning when

we both went to work. >> as he went back outside, zach could see down into the center of town. that's where georgia's office was, where she was, when the earthquake hit. and what he saw chilled him to the bone. >> what i could see of the central part of the village that was so destroyed, in my mind, i just could not see how -- >> nobody survived in that city building? >> well, yeah. >> shaking that from his mind, zach thought georgia might have gone out to help one of the three schools where he taught, but when he got to the kindergarten, his heart sank. >> the kindergarten was completely gone. >> wiped away? >> yes. they were all that was left was a bit of the fence and some of the foundation. >> a kindergarten that would have been occupied? >> i had hoped not. >> later, he found out those children were safe. evacuated before the tsunami hit. but now, zach went to another

school, found a group of teachers, huddled in their office. unable to speak japanese, he passed around georgia's business cards with her photo. >> and i went in, and i just kept asking, georgia sensei, where is she? have you seen her? >> they had not. but they did give zach some hope. >> they said, chudako, go, junior high, junior high. i take that as oh, she's at the junior high. >> so zach sprinted there, made his way to the teacher's room. >> and i asked them, you know, have you seen georgia? and they said they hadn't, had not seen her, and i kind of lost it a bit at that, at that point. >> zach staggered outside, out of options, his despair now total. what was happening in your mind in there?

>> just, just feeling so lost, that feeling that i've been trying to suppress the feeling of she's not all right. it began growing in size immensely, as each minute went by. >> one of the teachers came outside to comfort him with a cup of tea. >> telling me, you know, "it's okay. daiju rud," it's okay, it's okay, hugging me and patting me on the back as i'm crying, so, yeah. >> then out of nowhere, a van pulled up, two men hopped out. zach recognized one as a colleague of georgia's. they didn't look happy. zach tried to ask them. >> georgia, you know, where is she? where is she? and they didn't say, because they spoke no english and i spoke no japanese, just pretty much, like let's go, pointing to the van, and just kind of pushing me into the van. >> they were taking him to city

hall. as you were being driven in that van, did you have any idea what they were driving you to see? >> no. >> did you know that they had been taking bodies to the city hall? >> no. no, i -- no. >> you didn't know that? >> didn't know. >> city hall had in fact become the temporary morgue. was that where he'd find georgia? >> coming up, the news everyone had been waiting for. >> he was very brave for what he did, very brave, that you'd do that for people that you love. >> when "dateline" continues. [ laughs ] ♪ 'cause i love a rainy night [ female announcer ] yoplait. with flavors the whole family will love. it is so good for a night in.

but sometimes, i still struggled to get going, even get through the day. so i was honest with my doctor. i told him i'd been feeling stuck for a long time. he said that for some people, an antidepressant alone only helps so much and suggested we add abilify (aripiprazole). he said that by taking both, some people had symptom improvement as early as 1 to 2 weeks. i wish i'd talked to my doctor sooner. [ female announcer ] abilify is not for everyone. call your doctor if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion to address a possible life-threatening condition. or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements,

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two men had pushed zach brandon into the back of a van, which was now picking its way through canyons of urban rubble, apparently toward the noda city hall. had zach known the place had been turned into a temporary morgue, he'dhave understood the meaning of the looks on their faces. the van stopped. the men got out. >> they said don't get out, you know, like, like motioning for me to stay in the van. that was it. >> he steeled himself for

whatever was coming next. what he did not expect was what he saw. >> around the corner walked out georgia. >> and i saw this baseball cap over by a car, and there he was, the last person in the world i expected to see, trudging across the mud in his gum boots. there was zach. >> how was that? >> it was a pretty awesome moment. after the absolute insanity of the last 24 hours, it was surreal, but it was an amazing feeling at the same time to see him there. >> her hair all frantic, you know, like she had had no sleep, like the rest of us. >> big hug. >> yes? >> of course. >> she cried and i cried, and just one of the best hugs ever,

you know? knowing that she was safe. >> nice to know there's somebody that will go through the barricades, do whatever is needed to get to you. >> yes. i just couldn't understand how zach had arrived with his baseball cap in the middle of all this. >> yes. >> it was insane. >> well, that's the way to a little girl's heart. >> yes. yes. >> and georgia's story? well, if zach had been ringside, georgia was center stage. and although she'd been through earthquakes before in new zealand, this one was much, much different. >> it was the first time i found it hard to walk or stand in an earthquake. >> still, everyone around her seemed okay. she thought it was all just kind of exciting. [ siren ] even when the tsunami siren went off -- >> it was like, oh, cool!

this is really exciting. >> but others knew better. and georgia soon learned this was very, very bad. >> they said you need to go upstairs, so i followed everyone. we went upstairs. looked out the window and noda was gone. >> this is what georgia saw captured on her cell phone camera. much of the town of noda flowing by the window. you were standing right here looking out there. >> this exact spot, yep. >> it's just quite awesome, like half the town is up there. >> yes. >> there's a roof here. >> yep, there's a roof, there's actually a house wedged in under the entrance. >> oh, my gosh. >> almost broken in half. >> unbelievable. there's another house. >> yes, another roof. this house is not usually there. that's just in the middle of the car park. >> just phenomenal. wow. she felt safe up here, somehow detached from the horror she was

witnessing. and then it hit her. >> there was this moment where it was absolutely silent and could you hear a dog barking off in the distance and occasionally there'd be a shout, but other than that, it was so surreal, so silent. >> wow. >> yes. i won't forget that moment. >> water and debris piled up almost to the second floor. no one could leave. what was that like? >> that was the worst night of my life. >> a sleepless night, huddled in her boss's office, missing zach, but thinking he was okay further inland. and the next morning, a jolting aftershock, and more tsunami sirens. but then zach found her, and together, they looked at what was left of the town. georgia took these pictures. 38 people lost their lives in

noda, a tiny percentage of the more than 18,000 who died up and down the coast, but half of noda was simply gone. >> it was like someone had just driven a bulldozer through and it was all gone. there was -- how a wave can do that, i don't know. >> lifting complete houses up off their foundations, so all that was left was the shell. >> or the front stairs leading up to nothing. >> yes. >> and then they went to the safest place they could think of, their mentor kenji's office in kuji, where the other teachers had gathered. >> and he knew, kenji being kenji, he found all the food that he could find in his house, anything that we could eat, which included, you know, lots of beer and sake on hand. >> and music. ♪ zach and kenji got out the guitars, tried to shut out the world. >> to kind of give ourselves some sense that everything was

all right a bit, you know? >> and then cell phones chirped baaing to life. >> everyone frantically had their phones with frantic e-mails telling them that they're okay. >> back in indiana, zach's parents finally got the news they'd been praying for. >> it took me hours and hours but i found her, and she's alive. and so the first thing i did was call brenda, georgia's mom, and she was in bed, she wasn't asleep, she was trying to sleep, but i said "zach found her. she's alive." >> she started crying. >> she just screamed and started crying. >> mom came in and told me that zach had found her and she was safe and she was alive, and it was the most amazing feeling i've ever experienced. he was very brave for what he did. he was very brave, that you'd do

that for people that you love. >> the danger wasn't over, of course. we all know what came next. so you find out that he's okay. she is okay. now what? i mean -- >> fukushima. >> coming up, a different kind of aftershock. >> he said, have you checked your e-mail yet? and i said no. he said why don't you guys look at your e-mail together. and so i said oh, zach, what now? ♪ ♪ gigantic, gigantic, gigantic

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the fukushima nuclear disaster. >> we are covering a full-blown nuclear scare -- >> it filled the airwaves, potential meltdown, nuclear armageddon. the president was calling for americans to get out. >> yesterday we called for an evacuation of american citizens who are within 50 miles of the plant. >> we were seeing on the news that it's melting down. it's just a matter of time. they can't stop it, and -- >> and could affect the the

entire country, the entire region of the earth. >> right. zack had thought the wors aover. >> you never think you experience a tsunami or earthquake and now experiencing a meltdown of a nuclear power plant. >> but we wanted him to come home. we wanted him -- >> yes, we wanted him. >> here we were the ones saying we wanted you to stay, you made a commitment. >> it's time for to you come home. >> but there was no travel, of course, anywhere. >> then zack got a call from a u.s. air force officer. >> said we'll take you to the air force base and we'll fly you to a safe location. >> so what'd you say? >> well, i said, you know, i actually lied and said georgia was my fiance. i said my fiance is a new zealand citizen. >> i can bring her along? >> yes. and he said i'm sorry, we can only offer this to u.s. citizens at this stage, and i can't leave her behind.

>> zack and georgia were 200 miles north of fukushima and as the days passed they began to feel the danger from the radiation at least where they were was subsiding. so they stayed. even helped with the cleanup. and then about a month later, funny how these things go, zack and georgia got another shock. another one of those life-changing developments. zack told his parents about it during one of their regular sunday phone calls. >> and he said, have you checked your e-mail yet? and i said no. he said why don't you guys look at your e-mail together. and so i said, oh, zack, what now? >> after all the worry and dread they'd experienced over their son's time in japan, zack branhbra branham's parents weren't quite prepared for the next bit of news. >> we opened the e-mail and there's an ultrasound picture. >> a baby was on the way.

>> we were literally speechless, one of the the few times in my life i've been speechless. >> we nicknamed it baby bean because it looked like a little bean. >> it just, it felt right in a way. we were obviously, are obviously in love and the timing wasn't amazing, but it had happened, so let's just go with it. >> still, it was one last step. zack hadn't been quite ready to take it before but when he came home to indiana to see his family -- >> while i was in indiana in june, my mom and mice sisters went with me and we went engagement ring shopping. >> what, did he intend to do that? would he have done that without a little push you think? >> i don't know. i know that i said, would you marry her if she wasn't expecting a baby, and he said

yes, and i said then she needs to know that. she needs you to ask her to marry you, not just it be expected that i'm doing the right thing, so yeah, maybe, i did push him. >> when zack went back to japan, he was ready. or so he thought. georgia met him at the train station. >> as we're walking to the car, i, i don't know, i just, i said, you just have to stop. >> i was like, what are you doing? it's freezing. let's get in the car, let's go. and he said, just wait, and then all of a sudden he turned around, and he's shaking, but he's holding a ring box. >> and i got down on my knee and i just said "i love you and i want to spend the rest of my life with you. i don't care if it's in japan or new zealand or in siberia. i want to spend the rest of my life with you, and will you marry me?" >> and i said yes, of course.

i had to put him out of his misery. he looked like he was going to collapse. >> so i was engaged, and we didn't really know what we were going to do or where we were going to do g but we were having a baby and we were going to get march iried. >> in fact you got ma areried twice p. >> yes, we did, twice. >> they did. the first in indiana, the second one in new zealand, and there was a special guest at that one. 2-month-old sebastian. >> yeah, getting good distance. >> after promising his mother it was never going to happen, sure enough, zack and his family now live in new zealand. he works for the government, georgia at a tv company. we brought them back to japan for the first time since it all happened. >> my name is georgia. >> georgia! georg georgia! oh! >> this teacher and her students

knew about georgia and zack. many here looked upon their story as one positive thing that came out of that horrible tragedy. do you ever, and this sayy is a totally unfair question do you ever sit together at night and say boy, if it hadn't been to are that day, would we be here, would we have sebastian, would we be in this life together? >> all the time. >> if someone would have told me two years from now you will be living in welltington. >> married to an american. >> married to a kiwi with a 2-year-old son. >> i would have said you were crazy. >> i would have thought they were crazy, you know? so i could never have imagined this. >> helped along by an earthquake, a tsunami and god knows what else. >> yes, yes. yes. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline."

we'll see you again on friday at 8:00, 7:00 central. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good . - previously, on believe... - bo is a very special little girl, but she can't control her gifts. how they manifest is completely unpredictable. - bo adams must be located and recovered. - i don't care about william tate, only bo, and i intend to use every resource at my command to recover her. - your telekinetic event sensor is now fully operational. we are now able to track any telekinetic activity within moments of the event. - we can find bo. - you should ner have gotten him out, winter. - she needs her father. - her father's the problem. - she stronger when she's with him. she's your daughter, mr. tate. - it was nina, right? bo's mom? - yes. - was she like bo? - no one is like bo. - so what happened? - nina died in childbirth. - you're my dad, aren't you?