everything just began to shake. everything began to shake. just kept asking where is she. 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 only 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, willing to risk his life to try to save hers. >> there's fires on the hill, fire on the water. >> but could he get there in time? >> i've never loved someone the way i love georgia. 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. a 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. i think it was just offered to me and i, i jumped on it. >> the town they sent him to in japan 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. a local english-speaking businessman named kenji hirayama. kenji is a pretty accomplished guitarist, found out that zach was, too. >> i'm amazed by his song, his original songs, and also he plays guitar very well. >> kenji pulled out an old gibson and handed it to zach. >> he said "consider it yours while you're here." ♪ >> zach took that guitar to school trying to break the ice. >> 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. and i said to him, "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? >> that was really hard. >> it was really hard, yes. >> i may have hung up the phone a bit angry at him, 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 croatia. >> 23-year-old georgia robinson, a recent university graduate herself from new zealand. she'd been teaching ad libbing in a nearby town on the coast called noda. in october, they all went to a karaoke bar. >> i found out she was a huge fan of kiss, so you know, 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 night. >> 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, and the same movies. >> and then a few weeks later, she called him. here they are practicing with the other teachers for a december dance performance. >> from then on, we ended up spending progressively more and more time together. >> it was a happier young man who went home to indiana for christmas. zach introduced his parents to georgia -- sort of. >> i met her on skype. police her heart, she had the flu. >> what did you think about this relationship, with a 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 -- >> 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. >> zach had never been in an earthquake, but his co-workers knew this one was 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 even 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?

>> 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? lowe's knows you do it right by finding the best deals on paint and stain. we do it right too, with big savings on top brands like valspar, cabot and hgtv home by sherwin williams. the time is right at lowe's. with this one little nexgard chew comes the confidence, you're doing what's right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. and it's the only chew, fda approved to prevent infections that cause lyme disease. nexgard. what one little chew can do. how do you keep feeling your best all summer long? start with supporting your gut health. only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. so, let's make this the summer of loving your gut. activia. love for your gut.

let's see, aleve is than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain.

here, hello! starts with -hi!mple... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! [ camera clicking ] wifi up there? -ahhh. sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today.

keith morrison (voiceover): friday morning, march 11th, 2011. friday morning, march 11th, 2011. in nashville, indiana, john and terry whitcomb had barely had a

sip of their morning tea when the news jolted them away. >> this was a very powerful earthquake. the images are stunning out of japan. >> 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? and we were looking at maps, and you know, everything was pointing to, yes, it's exactly where zach is, and -- >> we just prayed. >> the enormous waves you see here were hitting noda and kuji, the towns were zach and georgia were teaching. the frantic calls began, but no avail.

and what happened with his phone? >> it would say all circuits are busy and that you'd get a busy signal. >> and then the minutes went by. >> uh-huh. >> and then an hour, two hours. what did that feel like? >> hell. >> as a parent you never think oh, my child's been killed. you don't think that. you 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. >> one of my friends got a text to say 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 where georgia was based. >> it was unrecognizable from images she had sent to us, that the buildings 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. >> 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. >> saturday morning, more than 24 hours since they'd had any communication from 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 to 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.

prestige creams not living up to the hype? one jar shatters the competition. olay regenerist hydrates skin better than creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay. still nervous about buying uh-oh, la new house.meone's is it that obvious? yes it is. you know, maybe you'd worry less if you got geico to help with your homeowners insurance. i didn't know geico could helps with homeowners insurance. yep, they've been doing it for years. what are you doing? big steve? thanks, man. there he is. get to know geico and see how much you could save on homeowners and renters insurance. w...that keep us active every day.... like you, your cells get hungry. feed them... ...with centrum® multigummies. so you can be unstoppable. now improved! better tasting! feed your cells today.

keith morrison (voiceover): zach brannon didn't fully comprehend how bad it was. zach brandon didn't fully comprehend how bad it was. the tremendous earthquake and the deadly wall of water that followed it was snuffing out more than 18,000 lives. tens of thousands of homes, whole towns were being swept away, but zach didn't know that

yet. >> i just wanted to find georgia, my best friend and also i just wanted to make sure she was all right. >> zach kept telling himself she was all right. noda, the small town on 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 more, thank god there's a wall. >> yeah, 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 that out, 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 kuji to 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 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 it, 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. he 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.

air wick take in fragrance inspired by nature with air wick essential mist. it transforms natural essential oils into mist; filling the room with fragrance, pausing when it's just right. experience air wick essential mist. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. scholl's massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, you'll move over 10% more than before. dr. scholl's. born to move.

who got an awful skin condition. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. and you never know how your skin will look. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. so help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see it. at 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. if you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. help heal your skin from within. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent.

keith morrison (voiceover): as the sun rose help heal your skin from within. over the ruined coastal towns of northern japan, as the sun rose over the e 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 a 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 she 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. so -- >> 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. two men had pushed zach brennan

into the back of the van, which was 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'd have 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 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. >> that's 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. oh my god. >> 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. >> um-hum. that's the 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, you're right. >> it's been almost broken in half. >> unbelievable. there's another house. >> yes, another roof. >> drifted across the road there. >> this house is not usually in the road 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 you could 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 back to life. >> everyone frantically had their phones out sending emails to our families, being able to tell them, you know, we'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. that's 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 email yet? and i said, no. he said why don't you guys look at your email together. and so i said oh, zach, what now? the good news? our comfort lasts all day. the bad news? so does his energy. new depend® fit-flex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. because, perfect or not, life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. tthe bad news? ouyour patience might not.ay.

new depend® fit-flex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. because, perfect or not, life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. what sore muscles? what with advpounding head? .. advil is... relief that's fast. strength that lasts. you'll ask... what pain? with advil. how do you keep feeling your best all summer long? start with supporting your gut health. only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. so, let's make this the summer of loving your gut. activia. love for your gut. -keith used to be great to road-trip with. but since he bought his house... are you going 45? -uh, yes. 55 is a suggestion. -...it's kind of like driving with his dad. -what a sign, huh? terry, can you take a selfie of me? -take a selfie of you? -yeah. can you make it look like i'm holding it? -he did show us how to bundle home and auto at progressive.com

and save a bunch of money. -oh, a plaque. "he later navigated northward, leaving... progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. but wean protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. but wean protect your home and auto imagine if we we would be such good friends. best friends. advantage ii, kills fleas through contact all month long. i mean he's a wreck without me. advantage ii, fight the misery of biting fleas.

you can go first. audible reintroduced this whole world to me. so many great stories from amazing people. it makes me want to be better. to be able to connect with the people's stories that i'm listening to. that's inspiration. it's on during my commute, it's on all the time. doing the dishes. working out. while i'm in the car. at bed time. an audible listener is someone that wants to broaden their mind. people who are tired of listening to the radio, or music. to hear her speak those words. it was incredible. it was unbelievable. with audible originals, there's something for almost every taste in there. everything you ever wanted to hear. i signed up for getting a credit every month, and i started exploring books that i normally wouldn't read. our ability to empathize through these stories, with these stories, can be transformational. it's my own thing that i can do for me.

see what listening to audible can do for you. just text listen5 to 500500. welcome back, i'ming to audnatalie morales.you. in the aftermath of japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, zach brannon had rushed into the chaos to find his girlfriend georgia alive and well. but the couple wasn't out of danger yet. here with the conclusion of "swept away" is keith morrison. keith morrison (voiceover): the fukushima nuclear disaster. rescue efforts have been complicated by damage to a nuclear power plant. keith morrison (voiceover): it filled the air ways. potential melt-down. 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 it could infect the entire country. that entire region of the earth. keith morrison (voiceover): right. zach had thought the worst was over. so you never think you'd ever experience a tsunami or earthquake. and now you're experiencing a meltdown of a nuclear power plant. but we wanted him to come home. we wanted him-- yeah, we wanted him. i mean here we were the ones saying, you have to stay. you made a commitment. now, it's time for you to come home. yeah, but there was there was no travel, of course, anywhere. keith morrison (voiceover): then, zach got a call from a us air force officer. he said, we'll take you to the air force base and we'll fly you to a safe location. so what'd do you say? well, i said you know, i actually lied. and said george was my fiance. and i said, my fiance is a new zealand citizen, you know. can i bring her along? yeah. and he said, you know, i'm really sorry we can only offer this to us citizens, at this stage. and i can't leave her behind.

keith morrison (voiceover): zach 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. zach and georgia got another shock. another one of those life changing developments. zach told his parents about it during one of their regular sunday phone calls. and he said have you checked your email yet? and said, no. and he said, why don't you guys look at your email together. and so i said, oh zach, what now? keith morrison (voiceover): after all the worry and dread they'd experienced over their son's time in japan, zach brannon's parents weren't quite prepared for the next bit of news. so we opened the email and there's an ultrasound picture.

keith morrison (voiceover): a baby was on the way. we were literally speechless. one of the few times in my life i've been speechless. so we nicknamed it baby bean because it was 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. keith morrison (voiceover): still, it was one last step. zach 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 my 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. and so yeah, maybe i did push him. keith morrison (voiceover): when zach 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, i-- you just have to, you just have to stop. and i was like, what are you doing? it's freezing. like 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 if it's in new zealand or you know, if we're in siberia. i want to spend the rest of my life with you. and you know, 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 from there or where we were going to go. but we knew we were having a baby and we were going to get married. and-- in fact, you got married twice. yeah, we did. yeah. yes, two weddings. the first, in indiana. the second one, in new zealand. and there was a special guest at that one, two-month-old sebastian. throw that one. yes. yeah, getting real. getting some good distance. keith morrison (voiceover): after promising his mother it was never going to happen, sure enough zach and his family now live in new zealand. he works for the government. georgia, at a recruitment agency. and sebastian is busy growing up. in 2014, we brought them back to japan for the first time since it all happened. my name is georgia. oh, georgia.

georgia! keith morrison (voiceover): this teacher and her students knew about georgia and zach. many here looked upon their story as one positive thing that came out of that horrible tragedy. do you ever, and this is a totally unfair question, do you ever sometimes sit together at night and say to yourselves, boy, if it hadn't been for that day. we would be here? would we-- would we have sebastian? would we be in this life together? all the time. if someone would have told me, three years from now, you will be living in wellington. married to an american. married to a kiwi with a two-year-old son. i would have said, you're crazy. i would have thought they were crazy, you know? so could have never imagined this. helped along by an earthquake, a tsunami, god knows what else. yeah, yeah, yeah.

that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales, thank you for watching. [theme music] president trump sharpens his attacks on four progressive democratic congresswomen in a series of tweets he's calling the squad weak, insecure and incapable of loving the united states rvelg states. iran's revolutionary guard shows video of an oil tanker. former special counsel robert mueller will be in the hot seat on capitol hill this week. house judiciary chairman jerry nadler says the hearing will show substantial wrong doing by president