World War II veteran, 100, and his 96-year-old sweetheart bride tie the knot near the Normandy D-Day beaches

a WWII veteran and centenarian and his 96-year-old beloved bride married near the D-Day beaches of Normandy.

On June 8, Harold Terens and Jeanne Swerlin married inland from the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.

Beaming with joy, the couple who met in 2021 said ‘I do’ at the historic town hall of Carentan-les-Marais, the same location where Allied forces invaded all those years ago, changing the course of the war against the Nazis.

Originally from the Bronx, New York, Terens enlisted in the Army Air Force more than 80 years ago. He served in the army from 1942 to 1945 as a radio technician.

With a combined age of almost 200 years, the bubbly bride-to-be said on her way to the wedding: ‘It’s not just for young people, honey, you know? We get butterflies. And we get a little bit of action too.”

Pictured: 100-year-old American World War II veteran Harold Terens and his 96-year-old bride Jeanne Swerlin Terens kiss before taking their vows at the Carentan-les-Marais town hall on June 8, 2024

Originally from the Bronx, New York, Terens enlisted in the Army Air Force more than 80 years ago. He served in the army from 1942 to 1945 as a radio technician

As Glenn Miller’s swing and other historic melodies rang through the streets, congratulatory people lined up more than an hour before the wedding

After they both declared ‘oui’ to the vows read out in English by the mayor of Carentan, the pair exchanged rings.

‘With this ring I marry you,’ said Terens. She giggled and gasped, “Really?”

With champagne flutes in hand, they waved through an open window to the adoring crowd outside.

‘To everyone’s good health. And here’s to peace in the world and the preservation of democracy all over the world and the end of the war in Ukraine and Gaza,” Terens said as he and his bride then clinked glasses and drank.

The crowd shouted ‘la mariée!’ – the bride! — to Swerlin, who wore a long, flowing dress in vibrant pink.

Terens looked smart in a light blue suit and a matching pink headscarf in his breast pocket.

After the ceremony they were invited to the state dinner at the Elysee Palace on Saturday evening with French President Emmanuel Macron and President Biden.

“Congratulations to the newlyweds,” Macron said, prompting cheers and a standing ovation from other guests during the toast that praised French-American friendship.

Together, the combined age of the bride and groom was almost 200 years

Terens, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, smile from a window after celebrating their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais, in Normandy, northwestern France, where they were married by the mayor

The couple was founded by the daughter of Swerlin’s most recent partner, who died after sharing 25 years together

Terens became a Morse code operator and was attached to a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron when he left for Britain in 1942.

None of the original pilots Terens worked with survived the war. On D-Day Terens was sent to repair returning aircraft France so they could rejoin the fight. Half of his company’s pilots died that day.

Terens was sent to Normandy twelve days after the landings to bring back the prisoners of war.

“I brought with me a number of American airmen who were released prisoners of war from German stalags,” he said. “A bunch of emaciated pilots, bombers, navigators, gunners, all in very, very bad shape.”

‘I did that about six times – [also] bringing back Germans captured in Normandy, as well as some British soldiers.”

He said he still has nightmares about his time in the service, and didn’t even think he would return to his family alive.

‘It was a disgusting war. Normandy was just a horror to watch. I still have nightmares about the war.’

‘I never thought I would ever see my mother, father, sister or brother again. I would be killed. This is how you feel when you’re a kid, about twenty years old, and you’re a soldier, and there’s a war going on. Well damn it? I was going to get killed anyway.’

On D-Day, Terens was sent to repair returning aircraft from France so they could rejoin the fight. Half of his company’s pilots died that day

Terens and Swerlin were flown to France courtesy of Delta for both the wedding and the D-Day 80th anniversary celebration via Delta Air Lines, which maintains a tradition of flying out surviving veterans to fight the historic invasion commemorate.

While Terens was fighting the war, she was dating soldiers in high school who brought her gifts to impress her — a juxtaposition that the two laugh about today

While Terens was fighting the war, she was dating soldiers in high school who brought her gifts to impress her – a combination that the two laugh about today.

When he returned from the war, Terens married his first wife Thelma in 1948. The couple had two daughters and a son.

He became US vice president for a British conglomerate, while his wife was a French teacher. Thelma, who retired from teaching in 2006, died in 2018.

The couple was married for seventy years and had eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Swerlin married her first husband at age 21, with whom she shares two daughters and a son, but was widowed at age 40. Her second husband died after 18 years of marriage.

She had a partner of 25 years, Sol Katz, before he died in 2019. Swerlin has seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.