(Carentan-Les-Marais) World War II veteran Harold Terens and his longtime partner Jeanne Swerlin proved that love is eternal by getting married Saturday on the landing beaches of Normandy, France.
Their respective ages – he is 100, she is only 96 – made their nuptials a celebration of almost two centuries.
The location was the elegant stone town hall of Carentan-les-Marais, which was the scene of fierce fighting after the Allied landings of June 6, 1944, which helped rid Europe of Adolf’s tyranny Hitler.
Like other towns and villages on the Normandy coast, where nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on five code-named beaches, it is a bustling center of remembrance and celebration of the 80th anniversary of the young men’s deeds and sacrifices and women that day. Veterans were celebrated like great international stars.
While the swing of Glenn Miller and other period tunes echoed through the streets, guests were already lining up a good hour before the wedding, behind the barriers in front of the town hall.
After both saying “yes” to vows read by a deputy mayor, the couple waved to the crowd outside, flutes of champagne in hand.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” said Mr. Terens after the celebration.
The marriage was symbolic. Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonor said he was not authorized to marry foreigners who did not reside in Carentan-les-Marais and that the American couple had not requested legally binding vows. The “newlyweds” both live in Florida.
Mr. Lhonor likes to say that Normandy is practically the 51st state of the United States, given his respect and gratitude to veterans and the sacrifices of the tens of thousands of Allied soldiers who never returned from the Battle of Normandy.
Dressed in a 1940s dress that belonged to her mother, Jane Ollier, 73, was one of the early risers waiting to catch a glimpse of the happy couple.
“It’s so touching to get married at this age,” she said. “If it can bring them happiness in the last years of their lives, it’s fantastic.”