A World War II veteran is getting ready to marry his sweetheart near a special and hallowed place in France.
One-hundred-year-old Harold Terens is deeply in love with his fiancée, 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin, and the pair plan to tie the knot in the country where he first set foot as a U.S. Army Air Forces corporal just after the D-Day operation was completed, the Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday.
“I love this girl — she is quite special,” the veteran explained.
Terens will also be honored in June during the 80th celebration of France’s liberation from the Nazis. The trip will culminate in the couple’s marriage in a town near the beaches where American troops landed on D-Day.
A photo shows the lovebirds, both natives of New York City, who have been dating since 2021:
Harold Terens and his fiancee Jeanne Swerlin kissed and held hands like high school sweethearts as they discussed their upcoming wedding in France. https://t.co/QY6ON5TJOb
— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) March 10, 2024
After joining the military in 1942, Terens was stationed in Great Britain where he worked as a radio repairman for a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron.
“On D-Day — June 6, 1944 — Terens helped repair planes returning from France so they could rejoin the battle. He said half his company’s pilots died that day,” the article said, noting that after he went to France nearly two weeks later, his job was to help transport captured Germans and American POWs who had been freed back to England.
According to History, it took years for the United States to prepare for D-Day, and it has been deemed the biggest military operation ever performed in history:
Both Terens and Swerlin have children from previous marriages in which their beloved spouses passed away.
In May, the engaged couple’s families are planning to accompany them to Paris where Terens will be honored alongside fellow World War II veterans.
According to the AP report, “It will be Terens’ fourth D-Day celebration in France. He received a medal from President Emmanuel Macron five years ago.”
Terens said he will marry his sweetheart the morning of June 8, noting of his fiancée, “She is one of the most magnificent women I’ve ever known in my entire life.”
