World War II veteran Harold Terens and his great love, Jeanne Swerlin, proved that love is eternal as they united their lives in marriage inland from the D-Day beaches of Normandy.
Although it may not have been the wedding of the century, The sum of the ages of the bride and groom almost reached 200 years.. Harold Terens, a World War II veteran, is 100 years old, while his beloved Jeanne Swerlin is just 96 years old. However, their nuptial union became an almost bicentennial celebration.
The ceremony took place in the elegant Carentan town halla key ‘D-Day’ target that saw fierce fighting after the Allied landings of 6 June 1944, which helped liberate Europe from the tyranny of Adolf Hitler.
Like other localities along the Norman coast, where about 160,000 allied soldiers landed Under fire on five code-named beaches, Carentan is a bubbling center of remembrance and celebration in the 80th anniversary of the events and sacrifices of the young men and women of that day. The streets were decorated with flags and garlands, and veterans were hailed like rock stars.
As Glenn Miller’s swing and other period tunes played, well-wishers had already gathered an hour before the wedding, behind the barriers outside City Hall.
Symbolic but moving wedding
After pronounce both “I do” before a deputy mayor, the couple waved to the ecstatic crowd, glasses of champagne in hand. Terens described it as “the best day of my life.”
The wedding was symbolic, without legal validity. Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonneur’s office explained that he had no authority to marry foreigners who were not residents of Carentan, and that the couple, both Americans, had not requested legally binding vows. However, they could complete those procedures in Florida if they wished.
Lhonneur often says that Normandy is practically the 51st state of the United States, given its reverence and gratitude towards the veterans and the thousands of Allied soldiers who never returned from the Battle of Normandy.
Dressed in a 1940s outfit that belonged to her mother, Louise, and wearing a red beret, Jane Ollier, 73, was one of the early viewers waiting to catch a glimpse of the happy couple.
“It’s touching to get married at that age,” she said. “If you can bring them happiness in the last years of their livesThat is fantastic”.
