Meet Harold Terens, a 102-year-old WWII vet who is set to have his first bar mitzvah at the Pentagon
Age is just a number, and Harold Terens is proving it in the most extraordinary way. Recently turned 102 years old, the World War II veteran from Florida has decided to celebrate a milestone he missed nearly nine decades ago: his first bar mitzvah.
And not just anywhere, it will be held at the Pentagon.
Born in New York City, Terens marked his 102nd birthday with a festive brunch at a hotel in Delray Beach, joined by his second wife Jeanne (age 97), three children, eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. His granddaughter serenaded him with a cappella singing while he mambo danced with Jeanne.
'Best day of my life, believe it or not, and I've had so many,' Terens told The Post.
'I thought my wedding last year in Normandy was the best day of my life, but I think today topped it. And believe me, the best is yet to come. You ain't seen nothing yet.'
Terens was previously married to his beloved first wife, Thelma, for 70 years. 'I felt her there in spirit,' he said.
Why he never had a bar mitzvah until now?
Terens was born to a religious mother from Poland and an anti-religious father from Russia. The two made a compromise: only their older son would have a bar mitzvah.
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Harold was never given the chance — a loss he quietly carried his whole life.
But that changed recently when Terens was speaking on a panel with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. A Pentagon rabbi overheard him express his lifelong wish. The idea took root immediately.
'That is definitely on my bucket list and that is truly going to happen,' he told The Post. 'It will be a sensational event. My entire family will be there along with friends.
They'll all come. No one will miss that event.'
He added to the Associated Press: 'That's my next bucket list. I am going to be bar mitzvahed in the Pentagon.'
Life of service
Terens enlisted in 1942 and was deployed to Great Britain in 1943 as a radio repair technician in a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron. All four original pilots in his unit were killed during the war.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, as 150,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, Terens worked to repair aircraft returning from France.
Half his squadron's pilots were lost that day.
After the war, he helped transport freed prisoners of war from Normandy back to England.
In June 2024, Terens was honored by the French government during the 80th anniversary of the country's liberation. It wasn't his first time back in France, nor will it be his last. 'It's very emotional every time I go,' he told The Post. 'I have friends there that I long to see and that gives me a great deal of pleasure.
But going with the veterans is very, very special. I've had some very memorable moments in Normandy.'
Source: X
Still bursting with energy, Terens has an ambitious year ahead. His bucket list includes a 10-day transatlantic trip that will take him to the opera in Milan, a ballet in Paris, and the London Philharmonic in the UK, all before his Pentagon bar mitzvah next summer.
Terens says about 80 people are already on the guest list for the ceremony, and he's planning to make it count.
'My entire family will be there along with friends,' he told The Post. 'They'll all come. No one will miss that event.'
The secret to a long, joyful Life
Terens, who has met five U.S. presidents, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, says he owes his longevity to one key thing: low stress.
'I think I'm the richest guy in the world and I don't have any money in the bank,' he told The Post. 'I wouldn't trade my life with anyone in the world no matter who it was. I am happy just who I am and with what I have. I think I have more than anyone else in the world. I am the luckiest guy that God ever created.'
'And when I say the best is yet to come, I don't know what it is — but it's there. I promise you.'
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