HASLET, Texas — Ronold Ray, and yes, it is spelled with an "o-l-d" because he says, yes, he is indeed old. But at 100, the West Texas native is still waltzing through his long and remarkable life.

He was playing the Tennessee Waltz on his mandolin when we arrived at the home he shares with his daughter in Haslet, Texas. The WWII veteran celebrated his 100th birthday on November 3 with more than 50 members of his family, a family that wants the rest of the world to know about him, too.

"I fought in Okinawa, the last battle," Ray said of the landing when he was just 19 years old.

After more than two years of service, mostly in the Pacific theatre, he returned to civilian life and became an electrician, a repairman, and even fixed autopilot systems on airplanes in Midland-Odessa. For 18

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