Together, the collective age of the bride and groom was nearly 200. But World War II veteran Harold Terens and his sweetheart Jeanne Swerlin proved that love is eternal as they tied the knot Saturday inland of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.
Their respective ages B次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檚 100, sheB次元官网网址檚 a youngster of just 96 B次元官网网址� made their nuptials an almost double-century celebration.
Terens called it B次元官网网址硉he best day of my life.B次元官网网址�
On her way into the nuptials, the bubbly bride-to-be said: B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not just for young people, love, you know? We get butterflies. And we get a little action, also.B次元官网网址�
The location was the elegant stone-worked town hall of Carentan, a key initial D-Day objective that saw ferocious fighting after the June 6, 1944, Allied landings that helped rid Europe of Adolf HitlerB次元官网网址檚 tyranny.
Like other towns and villages across the Normandy coast where nearly 160,000 Allied troops came ashore under fire on five code-named beaches, itB次元官网网址檚 an effervescent hub of remembrance and celebration on the 80th anniversary of the deeds and sacrifices of young men and women that day, festooned with flags and bunting and with veterans feted like rockstars.
As the swing of Glenn Miller and other period tunes rang out on the streets, well-wishers B次元官网网址� some in WWII-period clothes B次元官网网址� were already lined up a good hour before the wedding, behind barriers outside the town hall, with a rousing pipe and drum band also on hand to serenade the happy couple.
After both declaring B次元官网网址渙uiB次元官网网址� to vows read by CarentanB次元官网网址檚 mayor in English, the couple exchanged rings.
B次元官网网址淲ith this ring, I thee wed,B次元官网网址� Terens said.
She giggled and gasped, B次元官网网址淩eally?B次元官网网址�
With Champagne flutes in hand, they waved through an open window to the adoring crowds outside.
B次元官网网址淭o everybodyB次元官网网址檚 good health. And to peace in the world and the preservation of democracy all over the world and the end of the war in Ukraine and Gaza,B次元官网网址� Terens said as he and his new bride then clinked glasses and drank.
The crowd yelled B次元官网网址渓a mari茅e!B次元官网网址� - the bride! B次元官网网址� to Swerlin, who wore a long flowing dress of vibrant pink. Terens looked dapper in a light blue suit and matching pink kerchief in his breast pocket.
And theyB次元官网网址檙e expected to get a very special wedding-night party: TheyB次元官网网址檝e been invited to the state dinner at the Elysee Palace on Saturday night with President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden, the mayor said.
The wedding was symbolic, not binding in law. Mayor Jean-Pierre LhonneurB次元官网网址檚 office said he wasnB次元官网网址檛 empowered to wed foreigners who werenB次元官网网址檛 residents of Carentan, and that the couple, who are both American, hadnB次元官网网址檛 requested legally binding vows. However, they could always complete those formalities back in Florida if they wished.
Lhonneur likes to say that Normandy is practically the 51st state of the USA, given its reverence and gratitude for the deeds and sacrifices of the tens of thousands of Allied soldiers who never made it home from the Battle of Normandy.
B次元官网网址淟ove is eternal, yes, maybe,B次元官网网址� the mayor said, referring to the newlyweds, although his comments also fittingly describe the feelings of many Normans for veterans.
B次元官网网址淚 hope for them the best happiness together.B次元官网网址�
Dressed in a 1940s dress that belonged to her mother, Louise, and a red beret, 73-year-old Jane Ollier was among early-bird spectators who waited for a glimpse of the lovebirds.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 so touching to get married at that age,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚f it can bring them happiness in the last years of their lives, thatB次元官网网址檚 fantastic.B次元官网网址�
The WWII veteran first visited France as a 20-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces corporal shortly after D-Day. Terens enlisted in 1942 and, after shipping to Britain, was attached to a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron as their radio repair technician.
On D-Day, Terens helped repair planes returning from France so they could rejoin the battle. He said half his companyB次元官网网址檚 pilots died that day. Terens himself went to France 12 days later, helping transport freshly captured Germans and just-freed American POWs to England. Following the Nazi surrender in May 1945, Terens again helped transport freed Allied prisoners to England before he shipped back to the U.S. a month later.
The couple, both widowed, grew up in New York City: she in Brooklyn, he in the Bronx.
John Leicester, The Associated Press
