At 89 D-Day Veteran Wins His Lifelong Battle

WWII veteran wins battle against lifelong foe

COOKSON, Okla. -- March 1, 2013 -- Inside a single-wide in Cookson, Okla., a tortured soul lives alone.

"It's a hard life, let me tell you," says 89-year-old Ed Bray. "You ain't never lived hard until you go through what I've been through."

Bray served in World War II. He was at Normandy on D-Day, has two Purple Hearts and more than a dozen other medals. But to this day, he still can't even read what they're for -- not because it's too painful, but because he simply can't read.

"The toughest thing that ever happened to me in my life was not being able to read," he says.

Illiteracy can be that damning.

"I've covered this up for 80 years," he says. "Nobody in this town knows I can't read."

Until he retired, Ed worked a civilian job at an Air Force base refueling planes. A coworker helped him with the forms and whatnot. At home, his wife covered for him for 62 years until she died in 2009. Today, Ed manages okay, but the soldier in him still refuses to surrender.

"I want to read one book," he says. "I don't care if it's about Mickey Mouse. I want to read one book before I die." read more>>>