North Dakota’s Oldest Veteran, 109, Shares Story of Resilience

Ray Curtis holds up his Army service photo from World War II. (Facebook) Military.com | By Kevin Damask Published February 25, 2026 at 3:00am ET On Feb. 11, 1917, Woodrow Wilson was the nation’s president. World War I was still more than a year and a half away from ending. 

And in a small town in northwestern North Dakota, near the Canadian border, Ray Curtis was born. The state’s oldest veteran recently celebrated his 109th birthday. 

Curtis survived the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl that tore through the High Plains in the 1930s, and life as a World War II soldier. 

Growing up in Columbus, North Dakota, Curtis was one of four children raised on a grain farm. The depression hit farmers particularly hard, and Curtis’ family was not immune. Harsh weather conditions, combined with a bear market, made selling crops difficult. 

“I sold those potatoes for a dollar a bushel, and that’s the only money I had in those six years,” he said. 

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Source: Military.com
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