I read in my local paper this week about a 72 year old Korean war veteran who had left high school in 1955 to join the military. He served in the Korean War and then again in Vietnam. Eventually he earned a master's degree in engineering. Even though he had graduated from college years earlier and has lead a very productive life he had always regretted that he did not have a dipolma. This week he decided to take advantage of a state law passed in 2004 that allows anyone who left school to fight in World War II or the Korean War to get their diploma. He can barely walk but he will be walking across the stage with the other students to receive his diploma.
I live in Alabama but I did a search and there are a lot of states that have passed similar laws. I'm sure there are a lot of veterans who left school to serve in World War II or the Korean War who qualify to receive a dipolma.
My father-in-law passed away a couple of years ago. He too left school to serve his country. He came home and earned a degree in Chemistry. Besides a successful career as a chemist at Brookley Field he also started two successful businesses. He use to laugh about the fact that he had a degree but no diploma and also that he had a driver's license without ever passing a driver's test. I can't help but think he would have liked to have that diploma if he had known it was an option.
The paper said only 8 people had taken advantage of the law in Alabama since it was passed in 2004. I'm sure there are a lot of veterans all across the country that would receive their dipolma under a similar law, if only they knew. So if you know a veteran who left highschool to serve our country please check and see what the laws in your state are and help your veteran get his or her diploma.
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