Curtis Thornton of Sequim celebrated his 95th birthday on May 31.

Born in Steele, N.D., on May 31, 1921, Thornton joined the U.S. Army in 1941, serving in the European Theater. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge from Dec. 16, 1944-Jan. 25, 1945, in the Ardennes region of France, where U.S. forces sustained over 100,000 casualties.

After a long career as a recruiting engineer with NASA, he and his wife Lucile, now married 67 years, moved to Sequim in 2003. Thornton’s favorite hat to wear is his Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge – Ardennes.