It was a special day for a Green Country WWII veteran as he celebrated his 99th birthday. Ed Bray was at Normandy on D-Day, and was awarded two purple hearts.

Bray's story starts just shy of a century ago. But his latest chapter may be the most storied yet.

Ed says he grew up tough. “We moved to Oklahoma City when I was six years old. During the Depression. People think they got it rough now," he said.

He had to work instead of focus on school. He talks about it like it happened just yesterday.

“Some of the stories he’ll tell are things that I’ll read in my history class," his granddaughter Addie Ballard said. "The Great Depression and the dust bowl and you know World War two and all of those things you just read about, he’s lived through.”

Ten years ago - CBS reporter Steve Hartman revealed Ed's latest story - one he's still writing. Ed learned to read late in life, at the age of 90.

"School is what changed my life," Bray said. “It was a whole turn-around. I live different now than I did before.”

In the decade since, his granddaughter Addie Ballard says he's made a point to go to schools - and encourage them to take reading seriously.

"I think he sees himself as a really good influencer for kids because he goes to high schools and middle schools al over and talk about how much reading has done for him," Ballard said.