This year, Terence was in the region for a more joyous reason: his wedding. After taking part in ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, he and his 96-year-old fiancée, Jeanne Souveran, arrived at a stone building in Carentan-les-Marais on Saturday for what he called the best day of his life.
The ceremony was symbolic and not legally binding, according to the Associated Press, but Terence told The Washington Post that he still considered the marriage official and has no plans to enter into legally binding marriage vows in the US.
The couple kissed, exchanged rings, drank champagne and said they felt like king and queen when they waved from a second-floor window after the ceremony. Terence and Swearin then drove to Paris, where President Emmanuel Macron spoke at a state dinner with Biden and congratulated the couple.
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“Fiction or not, there has never been a better relationship than ours,” Terence told The Post on Sunday.
Terence and Swerlin both grew up in New York City, but met about three years ago. During World War II, Terence enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served as a radio repair technician in 1942. On the day of the Normandy landings in 1944, Terence was stationed in England, helping to repair planes ready to return to the fighting in France.
Swerlin, meanwhile, had made friends with U.S. military personnel and received war memorabilia such as dog tags from them. After the war, the couple started a family and eventually moved to Florida.
But Terence said his wife of 70 years, Thelma, died in 2018 after battling breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. The following year, Swerlin said her fiancé, Sol, died in the shower after 24 years of marriage. Neither of them expected to find love again.
In 2021, a friend of Terrence and Swerlin’s invited the two out on a date at Seasons 52 in Boca Raton, Florida. Terrence said he became so obsessed that he even lost his appetite after their thighs accidentally touched under a table.
The two began dating and on their next date they kissed. Swerlin said Terence was the best kisser she had ever met. The two shared a love of dancing, especially to Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.”
“It took me 96 years to learn what love is,” Swerlin told the Post.
One night last summer, after returning from dinner, Terence got down on one knee in Swerlin’s garage and proposed to her. Swerlin agreed, then joked afterwards that she didn’t know how to get Terence over it.
Last week, Terence returned for a fourth time to mark the anniversary of the Normandy landings, but this time for a different reason: He said he wanted the more than 4,000 Allied soldiers who died on nearby beaches 80 years ago to attend his wedding as spirits.
Dozens of people were standing outside Carentan-les-Marais town hall on Saturday morning as Terence, dressed in a light blue suit, and Swelan, wearing a pink dress and carrying a bouquet, arrived. Terence smiled as he walked past dozens of people who were clapping and playing bagpipes. About 40 of the couple’s relatives attended the wedding, he said.
Terence said his granddaughter sang Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” while Jeanne walked down the aisle. The town’s mayor, Jean-Pierre Ronneur, officiated the ceremony. After the mayor read the vows, Terence and Swerlin, who were sitting at a table, were asked if they would marry each other.
“Yes,” they each replied. Then Swerin threw the bouquet, and it fell to the ground.
Holding a glass of champagne next to an open window on the building’s second floor, Terence toasted “everyone’s health, and for world peace and the preservation of democracy around the world, and an end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.”
Terence and Swearin drove to Paris for a state dinner at the Elysee Palace on Saturday, where Terence joked that he was jealous when Swearin embraced Biden for a few seconds.
Terence said they were both exhausted on Sunday, but that once they’ve recovered they plan to celebrate their honeymoon in Paris this week.
“We look forward to a long and happy life together,” he said.
