Curtis was born in Hurtsboro, Alabama, to Curtis Warner Smith and Willie Street Hunter Smith. His father served in the infantry in World War I. "That's why I guess I wanted to be in the infantry," he says. "He always told me, `Son, you hadn't been in the Army unless you've been in the infantry.'" During World War II, his father guarded German prisoners of war at an Opelika, Alabama prisoner of war camp. "Their relationship was such that for many years after the war they corresponded," he says. Curtis graduated from Russell County High School in June of 1944. He entered the U.S. Army and was placed in the Army Student Training Program (ASTP). He was sent to the University of Alabama for classroom work, but ached to join the fighting. "The invasion of Europe had happened," he says. "It looked like the war was fixing to end and Richard (Stone, a friend) and I hadn't been anywhere so we wanted out. They were happy to let us out. They needed help in the infantry. Curtis was sent to Fort Hood in Kileen, Texas, for infantry training, and then to the Philippines on the SS President Johnson. There he joined Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Thirty-fifth Infantry Regiment, Twenty-fifth Infantry Division at Tarlac. When the war ended, Curtis was sent into the occupation of Japan. "All you did was pull guard and KP," he says. He returned to America in September of 1946. He was discharged at Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas, on November 1, and then joined the reserves. He entered Auburn University in January of 1947 and earned a bachelor of science degree in August of 1949. While in school he met Kathryn Bounds. They married on May 21, 1948, and would have three children and one grandchild. Curtis taught school for a year in Ashford, Alabama. He was commissioned in the reserves on December 2, 1949, and assigned to an artillery battalion in Dothan. He joined the Alabama National Guard in Company B, 200^th Infantry Regiment, Thirty-first Infantry Division, also known as the Dixie Division. Curtis taught school until he was mobilized in December of 1950. He arrived in Korea in late October of 1952 and was sent to Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Seventh Infantry Division as a battalion communications officer. Curtis returned to the states at the end of April of 1953. He became regimental communications officer for the Seventh Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division. He served as a battalion communications officer in the Thirtieth Infantry, then was given command of a rifle company. He was sent to Germany in special service, working as central welfare fund officer for army revenue producing activities in Berlin, such as bowling allies, movie theaters, and golf courses. Returning from Berlin in 1960, he taught as an assistant professor of military science at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and earned his master's degree while there. He served in Vietnam in 1967 at Military Assistant Command Vietnam in Saigon, by then a lieutenant colonel. He returned to the states, arriving on August 18, 1968. He came to Shreveport as a National Guard advisor. He retired in 1972 and taught school for sixteen years at Woodlawn High School. Kathryn passed away on October 11, 2001.