After being honored on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northwest France, American World War II veteran Harold Terens, 100, married his 96-year-old fiancée in Normandy on Saturday. It may have been the longest wait.
In the town of Carentan-les-Marais, Terens and his sweetheart Jeanne Swerlin exchanged vows in front of dozens of guests, some of whom were dressed in military costumes, to the tunes of “I will always love you,” “Ave Maria,” and bagpipes.
“I waited 96 years to find the right man and now I have a wedding like only a queen and king can have,” Swerlin told AFP before the ceremony.
“I feel young again,” Terens said. “It’s the best time of my entire life.”
Applause from relatives and friends greeted Terens as he entered the local wedding hall wearing a light blue suit.
Swerlin, wearing a satin pink outfit, arrived to the tune of Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you.” The couple, quivering with emotion, embraced.
“Oui!” Swerlin said in French when asked by the mayor, Jean-Pierre Lhonneur, if she wished to take Terens to be her husband.
Following celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 Normandy landings, which included participation from US President Joe Biden, British King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron, Terens and Swerlin, who lived in Boca Raton, Florida, got married.
