Born 27 March 1918 in Pratt County, Kansas. He flew the P-47D "Kansas Tornado" in WWII with the 405th Fighter Group. He also flew during the Korean War. From the Pratt Tribune: "During the Cold War years, due to instrument failure and lack of fuel, he was forced to land in Albania. He was reported missing on Dec. 23, 1957, on a routine flight to Naples and the search was given up on Dec. 28 and he was presumed dead. The Albanian government at first denied that he had been captured, but through the intervention of French officials, eventually announced that he would be released on Jan. 9, 1958. Curran was the subject of a story in the Jan. 27, 1958, issue of Life magazine. He retired from the Air Force in 1959 with the rank of major and worked for the U.S. Postal Service until his retirement in 1983. He had lived in Tacoma, Wash. He passed away at 91 years of age in Tacoma, Washington.