D-Day commemoration

100-year-old US veteran marries his fiancée

(Bild: AFP)

100-year-old US veteran Harold Terens is to marry his 96-year-old fiancée Jeanne Swerlin after the D-Day commemorations in France on Saturday. The ex-soldier was involved in the Allied landings in Normandy 80 years ago.

The wedding was to be celebrated at 11 a.m. in the village of Carentan-les-Marais, near the landing beaches where tens of thousands of American, British and Canadian soldiers landed on June 6, 1944.

Following the official part of the ceremony, Terens will celebrate with "his loved ones in a small group", explained Sarah Pasquier, the person in charge of the D-Day commemorations in Carentan-les-Marais. If he was not too tired after the wedding ceremony, he could take part in a parade of veterans in the center of Carentan in the afternoon, Pasquier added.

Champagne for US veteran
In the evening, a ball will be held as part of the D-Day commemorations, where participants will dress in the style of the 1940s. "But Mr. Terens and his wife might be too tired to attend," explained Pasquier.

Harold Terens with his fiancée

(Bild: AFP)

"We are very honored that Mr. Terens has chosen to get married here in Carentan," said the town's mayor, Jean-Pierre Lhonneur. "We will of course offer him champagne, but we will also present him with a gift to thank him for taking part in the liberation of France," emphasized Lhonneur.

In action as a radio technician
Terens was deployed in Great Britain on D-Day, where he was a radio technician responsible for communicating with fighter pilots. His unit lost half of its 60 or so fighter planes during the Allied landings.

Shortly after the Allied landing, Terens was transferred to Normandy, where he was involved in the transportation of German prisoners of war. He later took part in a secret mission that took him to the Ukraine. There, British fighter planes were to make refueling stops in order to bomb German-controlled oil fields in Romania.

After the war, Terens returned to the USA, married and raised three children with his wife Thelma. His wife died in 2018.

"She made my life bright again"
Three years later, a friend brought him together with Jeanne Swerlin, who was four years younger and also a widow. The spark was ignited the second time they met. "She made my life bright again. With her, life is wonderful again," says Terens. "He's an incredible guy. I like everything about him," says Jeanne about her partner, who is young at heart. "He's also a good kisser," she adds.