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A World War II veteran just married his bride near Normandy's D-Day beaches. He's 100, she's 96

US WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais, in Normandy, northwestern France, on Saturday, June 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) US WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais, in Normandy, northwestern France, on Saturday, June 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
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CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France -

Together, the collective age of the bride and groom was nearly 200. But World War II veteran Harold Terens and his sweetheart Jeanne Swerlin proved that love is eternal as they tied the knot Saturday inland of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.

Their respective ages 鈥 he鈥檚 100, she鈥檚 a youngster of just 96 鈥 made their nuptials an almost double-century celebration.

Terens called it 鈥硉he best day of my life.鈥

On her way into the nuptials, the bubbly bride-to-be said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just for young people, love, you know? We get butterflies. And we get a little action, also.鈥

The location was the elegant stone-worked town hall of Carentan, a key initial D-Day objective that saw ferocious fighting after the June 6, 1944, Allied landings that helped rid Europe of Adolf Hitler鈥檚 tyranny.

Like other towns and villages across the Normandy coast where nearly 160,000 Allied troops came ashore under fire on five code-named beaches, it鈥檚 an effervescent hub of remembrance and celebration on the 80th anniversary for the deeds and sacrifices of young men and women that day, festooned with flags and bunting and with veterans feted like rockstars.

As the swing of Glenn Miller and other period tunes rang out on the streets, well-wishers were already lined up a good hour before the wedding, behind barriers outside the town hall.

After both declaring 鈥渙ui鈥 to vows read by a deputy mayor, the couple waved to the adoring crowds outside, flutes of champagne in hand.

The crowd yelled 鈥渓a mariee!鈥 - the bride! 鈥 to Jeanne, who wore a long flowing dress of vibrant pink. Harold looked dapper in a light blue suit.

And they're expected to get a very special wedding-night party: They've been invited to the state dinner at the Elysee Palace on Saturday night with President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden, the mayor said.

The wedding was symbolic, not binding in law. Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonneur's office said he wasn鈥檛 empowered to wed foreigners who weren鈥檛 residents of Carentan, and that the couple, who are both American, hadn鈥檛 requested legally binding vows. However, they could always complete those formalities back in Florida if they wished.

Lhonneur likes to say that Normandy is practically a 51st state of the USA, given its reverence and gratitude for veterans and the sacrifices of the tens of thousands of Allied soldiers who never made it home from the Battle of Normandy.

Dressed in a 1940s dress that belonged to her mother, Louise, and a red beret, 73-year-old Jane Ollier was among the early-bird spectators who waited for a glimpse of the happy couple.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so touching to get married at that age,'' she said. 鈥樷橧f it can bring them happiness in the last years of their lives, that鈥檚 fantastic.鈥

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