100-year-old war veteran will get married in Normandy on the 80th anniversary of “D-Day”

The American will be honored on June 6th, the 80th anniversary of the event that changed the conflict. Two days later, Terens and Jeanne will get married in Carentan-les-Marais, close to the beaches where thousands of soldiers landed in 1944, in a ceremony presided over by the local mayor.

In an interview carried out at Jeanne’s house, in Boca Ratón, Florida, the two kiss, holding hands. “Harold is an amazing person. I like everything about him. He IS handsome and is a great kisser,” Swerlin said. Characteristics to which a fantastic memory is added: the war veteran remembers everything: dates, cities and events.

Shortly after Harold turned 18, Japan bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, prompting many young men to enlist in the Army. The American dreamed of being an Air Force pilot, but was betrayed by color blindness, ending up becoming an expert in Morse code.

At age 20, Terens left for England on a ship. There he was chosen to ensure surface-to-air communication on four P47 Thunderbolt fighters. “We were losing the war because we were losing so many planes and pilots,” he recalls. “These pilots were my friends and they killed us. They were all young,” he adds. His company lost half of its 60 planes during the Normandy Landings.

Shortly afterwards, Harold traveled, as a volunteer, to this region of northern France to transport German prisoners of war to England.

Later he had to leave on a journey, carrying an envelope that could not be opened until he reached his destination. He passed through Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and, upon arriving in Ukraine, he was informed that he would participate in a secret mission. He had to supply bombs, fuel and food to the B-17 bombers that landed there, coming from England, to later attack areas of Romania that supplied Nazi Germany. The operation lasted 24 hours, until the Germans discovered the Allied base in Ukraine and began attacking it.

The American was partly uncertain and ended up contracting dysentery, having survived only thanks to the help of a family of farmers. Upon returning to England he also narrowly escaped bombing a pub he had just left. However, with the capitulation of the Germans on May 8, 1945, he returned home to New York.