BOCA RATON, Fla, March 10, (AP): Harold Terens and his fiancee Jeanne Swerlin hugged and held hands like high school sweethearts as they discussed their upcoming wedding in France, a country the World War II veteran first visited as a 20-year-old US Army Air Forces corporal shortly after D-Day.
Terens, a gregarious and energetic 100-year-old, will be honored in June by the French as part of the 80th anniversary celebration of their country's liberation from the Nazis. Then he plans to marry the sprightly 96-year-old Swerlin in a town near the beaches where US troops landed.
"I love this girl - she is quite special,” said Terens, who has been dating Swerlin since 2021. To demonstrate their fondness for dancing, they had Siri play "Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars and then jumped, twisted, and gyrated like teens at homecoming.
"He’s an amazing guy, amazing," Swerlin said. "He loves me so much and he says it.”
The couple, who are each widowed, grew up in New York City: her in Brooklyn, him in the Bronx. They laugh at how differently they experienced World War II. She was in high school and dated soldiers who gave her war souvenirs like dog tags, knives, and even a gun, trying to impress.
The couple and their families will head to Paris in late May, where Terens and a handful of surviving World War II veterans will be honored. Of the 16 million American WWII veterans, only 120,000 remain, the government says.
It will be Terens’ fourth D-Day celebration in France. He received a medal from President Emmanuel Macron five years ago.
The families then will travel to the town of Carentan-les-Marais, where the couple plan to be married June 8 by Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonneur in a chapel built in the 1600s. Lhonneur said because of the American sacrifice on D-Day, more US flags fly in the area than French.
"Normandy is the 51st state,” he said.
Lhonneur explained legally he is only allowed to marry town residents, but he thinks the local prosecutor will let him make an exception.