A World War II veteran is set to marry next month in Normandy, where thousands of troops landed – and died – in 1944. Harold Terens’ story is told by Agence France-Presse (AFP), which spoke to the former serviceman and his bride-to-be, 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin.

The couple believe their story is “better than Romeo and Juliet”, and say it began in 2021.

Terens was previously married to a woman named Thelma, with whom he had three children, and whose death in 2018 left him “three years of feeling sorry for myself and grieving”. But it was in 2021 that he met Jeanne, through a mutual friend, he told AFP. He admits there were no “sparks” at first, and the centenarian says he could barely look Swerlin in the eye when they first met. But all that changed, and the pair are now set to tie the knot in a location of great significance to him.

WWII Veteran Harold Terens, 100, will be honored in June by the French as part of the 80th anniversary celebration of their country's liberation from the Nazis. Then he plans to marry Jeanne Swerlin, 96, in a town near the beaches where U.S. troops landed. #WeRememberThem pic.twitter.com/RBFZwVBD9l

— WWII Memorial Friends (@WWIIMemorial) March 14, 2024

“She lights up my life, makes everything seem beautiful. Makes it worth living,” Terens told AFP.

As well as his upcoming nuptials, the serviceman will also be present two days before he ties the knot at a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings – the beginning of the Allied victory over the Nazis.

Centenarian had several close calls with death

As well as discussing his upcoming marriage, Terens also spoke about his experiences as a serviceman, having been sent to war shortly after his 18th birthday. Like many young men, he was called up to fight and within two years had become an expert in Morse code. Terens was now in charge of a ship on the Allied side, and the communication that took place between air and ground.

“We were losing the war, losing a lot of pilots and planes. They were just kids,” he recalled, adding that his squadron lost 60 planes during the Normandy campaign. After D-Day, Terens volunteered to travel to the region in northern France to help transport German prisoners of war, and also take Allied troops back to the UK.

Terens was also part of a secret mission, unbeknownst to him at the time – only finding out via a letter he opened while in the field. It involved an American bombing raid that set off from England to target areas controlled by Nazi Germany.

The operation he was part of lasted one day, but the Germans discovered the base where Terens was and bombed it – with the serviceman escaping but being left stranded in what is now Ukraine. He contracted dysentery, but was eventually helped by a local family and survived.

The serviceman later returned to the UK, where he had another close call with death. Heading to a pub, a woman refused to serve him a drink as she was about to close. The serviceman was not happy, complained, but eventually left. Terens had walked no more than 100 yards when a bomb hit the pub.

The wedding is due to take place on June 8, with Terens’ granddaughter singing at the ceremony.

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