Cantonment Veteran, Age 109, Recognized On U.S. Senate Floor

February 13, 2026

Cantonment veteran Duane Brewton, who turned 109 last week, was recognized during the Thursday afternoon session of the U.S. Senate.

Florida Senator Ashley Moody today recognized Florida’s oldest living World War II veteran with a special address on the Senate floor that will be memorialized in the Congressional Record.

From 1944 to 1945, Mr. Brewton served as a private in the U.S. Army, stationed in Vire, France, where he was wounded in the line of duty and later returned home. Brewton received a Purple Heart for his service.

As we reported last week, Brewton celebrated his birthday with friends, family and well-wishers at the Sodalis Senior Living Facility. Brewton has told facility staff that the secret to a long life is putting God first and taking care of your health.

“He is a proud member of what history rightly calls the Greatest Generation,” Moody said on the Senate floor. “Ordinary Americans who answered the call, did extraordinary things and helped save the world. They did not do it for recognition. They did not ask for praise. They simply did their duty. Honoring their service while they are still with us is both a privilege and a responsibility. When this country called, when his country called, Duane Brewton answered.”

“Through his life, he set a shining example before his children, his family, all who knew him and to us of what it means to honor God and country. May we all strive to live with the same humility, discipline, and integrity that he has shown for more than a century—109 years to be exact.”

“I congratulate Mr. Duane Brewton on his 109th birthday, thank him for his extraordinary service, and wish him another joyous year, surrounded in faith, family, and the enduring appreciation of a nation forever indebted to him,” Moody added.

He was married for 78 years and has four children and a multitude of grandchildren.

NorthEscambia.com photos (below) by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES