With the help of her children, she learned to use the computer to track down most of the buddies her husband had been talking about for years.

Joe Ard served in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor, 2nd Armored Division and was best friends with five other guys: Delmar May, Myron Wright, Sam Reynolds, Raymond Pahlow, all from different parts of the country, and Charlie Y.H. Chang from Hawai'i. Linda found everyone except Charlie.

"I would dearly love for my husband to hear from him," she said.

Joseph Ard, now 58, went back home to Ponchatoula, La., after serving in the Army. He worked as a truck driver for 40 years before the cancer made it impossible to clutch or shift. He's doing much better these days, 70 percent in remission, according to Linda. But the urgency to find Charlie remains. He's the last one, the lost one, of a tight bunch of guys.

The Ards know that Charlie was from Honolulu and that he used to live on Kaumuali'i Street. They heard Charlie worked as a welder at the Pearl Harbor shipyard after he came home.

"We have 400 minutes a month on our cell phones and I called every Charlie Chang I could find in Honolulu. I used all of my minutes and part of my husband's minutes one month," Linda said. "I called so many Charlie Changs, some very friendly and some not so friendly."

Ever since the other buddies were found, Joe has enjoyed keeping in touch. They've visited in person and exchanged e-mails. "Well, I e-mail for my husband because he don't like to fool with the computer much, just stand behind me and tell me what to write," she said.

On New Year's Eve, Joe called them all to wish them well. None of the men know how to find Charlie Chang, the guy they fondly remember cracking their achy backs and insisting his middle initials, Y.H., stood for "young and handsome."

"My husband says I shouldn't tell that part because if it's really our Charlie, then that's how we'll know," Linda says. "He'll know what the Y.H. means.

"But Charlie, if you're out there, please know that you're thought of quite often with the fondest of memories. It would really be a pleasant and most wonderful surprise to hear from you."