Emotional reunion as US war veteran attends high school graduation for Kurdish woman he saved during Iraq War

Lava Barwawi is now 18 and living in Georgia

Iraqi Kurdish-born Lava Barwari, left, and US war veteran Lieutenant Colonel Greg Pepin, centre

There are few things more touching than reunions – when two lives, connected by something truly special, collide after an extended time apart.

That’s exactly what happened to Iraqi Kurdish-born Lava Barwari and US war veteran Lieutenant Colonel Greg Pepin recently.

The two were brought back together for an emotional reunion after a remarkable act of kindness and quick-thinking by the former soldier.

As a baby, Barwari and her mother were caught up in Saddam Hussein’s brutal Iraqi regime and were in horrific danger – but what Pepin did for her meant she managed to escape.

Barwawi is now 18 and living in Georgia, US. Her mother sent Pepin an email to invite him to her high school graduation, having not seen the war hero in many years.

See the touching reunion here and find out how Pepin saved her life:

It's not the only significant moment at a US graduation ceremony this month.

Earlier in May a girl called Emma Sulkowicz carried her dorm room mattress in protest of her school’s failure to expel her alleged rapist. The incident reportedly took place in 2012.

While celebrating her graduation at Colombia University in New York, Miss Sulkwicz, a visual arts senior, was met with rousing applause by fellow students as she carried the mattress across the stage.