Harold Terens, a centenarian World War II veteran, will wed his 96-year-old fiancée in the French town of Carentan-les-Marais on Saturday. This comes shortly after he was commemorated for his service on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which occurred just a few kilometres away.
Terens’s 11:00 am (0900 GMT) wedding to Jeanne Swerlin will be followed by a celebration “with his loved ones, in a small group”, said Sarah Pasquier, the town hall’s representative for D-Day commemorations.
“We are very honoured that Mr Terens has chosen to get married here, in Carentan, where in June 1944 the meeting of Allied troops from the landings at Utah and Omaha beaches took place”, Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonneur told AFP.
“We will offer him champagne, of course, but also a gift to thank him for having participated in the liberation of France”.
After the ceremony, “depending on his possible fatigue”, Terens may join in a parade of veterans in the centre of Carentan during the afternoon, according to Pasquier.
A liberation ball will be also be held in the evening as part of the D-Day commemorations, she said, with attendees “invited to dress in the 1940s theme, and soldiers from the nearby American base welcome”.
“But Mr Terens and his wife may be too tired to join”, she added.
Terens, residing in Boca Raton, Florida, alongside Swerlin, was honored with the French Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019.
Following the war, Terens married his first wife, Thelma, with whom he spent 70 years and raised three children until her passing in 2018.
In 2021, he was introduced to Swerlin by a friend, a charming woman who had also experienced the loss of her spouse. Since then, the two have been inseparable.
In a recent interview with AFP in Florida, Terens expressed, “She brightens my life, she adds beauty to everything. She makes life meaningful.”
In the same conversation, Swerlin described her fiancé as “an incredible man,” adding, “He’s handsome – and he’s a great kisser.”