FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Harold Terens, a 102-year-old World War II veteran who made international headlines last year for getting married near Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, has plenty of items he wants to cross off his bucket list before his next birthday.
He checked one off by attending his first soccer match with his grandson, Apple TV play-by-play announcer Tyler Terens, when the Chicago Fire beat Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 5-3 at Chase Stadium on Sept. 30.
“I’ve never seen a soccer game. It’s my first one ever. I’ve never seen Messi or anybody. I’ve seen soccer on TV, but never live – until now with my grandson,” Harold Terens said before the match. “I’m getting to like soccer. I’m not thrilled with it yet, but I’m getting to like it.”
Hey, it’s a start.
Terens was a U.S. Army Air Force corporal, who first enlisted in 1942 serving as a radio repair technician for a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron. He helped repair planes flying from France so they could rejoin the fight during D-Day on June 6, 1944, then helped transport captured Germans and freed American prisoners of war from Normandy to England 12 days later. He also served in parts of Africa and Eastern Europe.
“I was all over,” he said.
On the 80th anniversary of D-Day last June, Terens married Jeanne Swerlin in a ceremony in Carentan, France. They were invited to the Elysee Palace for a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden on their wedding day.
“It was quite an event,” said Terens, who has also met Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
Tyler Terens vividly remembers how Biden treated his grandfather.
“He was a global celebrity for like 72 hours,” Tyler said. “He introduced himself to President Biden, and President Biden said ‘of course, I know who you are! You’re the most famous person in the world right now.’”
After the soccer game, Harold Terens will turn his attention to the other items on his bucket list.
He’s going to attend Tyler’s wedding to fiancée Shannon in Cincinnati next month.
He wants to take a 10-day transatlantic trip to see an opera in Milan, a ballet in Paris, and the London Philharmonic.
He plans to close off the bucket list by celebrating his 103rd birthday next year with a long-awaited bar mitzvah ceremony at the Pentagon.
He also has some writing to do, hoping to publish a book next spring about his life story. He’s about halfway done.
“It’s a page turner,” he said. “I’ve read half of it 12 times already. I find it interesting, what I’ve written so I can imagine what others will think of it.’
When Tyler got the assignment to cover the Inter Miami game, it was his chance to deliver on his grandfather’s wish to watch Messi play.
“To have him here, it’s literally the coolest thing in the world,” Tyler said. “He’s the reason, along with my dad, why I’ve became such a sports fanatic and got into this industry. It’s a dream come true to have him here.”
“Every day is an experience for me. It’s probably the highlight of my young life to be here,” Harold added. “I’m so proud of him.”