WWII vet who married at 100 in Normandy, plans Bar Mitzvah at 103 at the Pentagon; still chasing dreams 81 years after D-Day

Harold Terens, a 102-year-old World War II veteran from Florida, is preparing to celebrate his bar mitzvah at the Pentagon next year, a Jewish rite of passage he was denied as a child. The announcement came shortly after he marked his 102nd birthday surrounded by family and friends in Delray Beach.

Harold Terens enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in 1942 and served as a radio repair technician for a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron.

On D-Day in 1944, he helped repair planes returning from France and later assisted in transporting freed prisoners of war from Normandy to England.


In June 2024, he was honored by the French government during the 80th anniversary of the country’s liberation from Nazi occupation.

Bar Mitzvah at 103

Terens plans to hold the bar mitzvah ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., when he turns 103 next summer.

Born to a religious mother from Poland and an anti-religious father from Russia, he was the second of two sons. His older brother was bar mitzvahed; Terens was not, due to a compromise between his parents.

He shared this lifelong wish during a public event, where it was overheard by the rabbi of the Pentagon. The ceremony is now in the works, with around 80 friends and family members already on the guest list.

As reported by the Associated Press, Terens said, “That’s my next bucket list. I am going to be bar mitzvahed in the Pentagon.”

From D-Day to Normandy wedding

In addition to his military service, Terens made headlines in 2024 when he returned to Normandy to marry his partner Jeanne Swerlin, then 96. The couple, both originally from New York, wed in Carentan-les-Marais, near the D-Day landing beaches.

After the ceremony, they attended a state dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and former US President Joe Biden at the Élysée Palace.

Terens, who has met five US presidents during his lifetime, attributes his longevity to keeping stress low and finding joy in life.

“I think I’m the richest guy in the world and I don’t have any money in the bank,” he told The New York Post, adding, “The best is yet to come.”