A 96-year-old World War II vet finally got his high school diploma — complete with a graduation cap and tassel — decades after the draft cut his senior year short.
Arthur Masterson, of Warwick, Rhode Island, was surprised with the official paper from East Greenwich schools as a Christmas gift from his family, WJAR reported Sunday.
“On Thanksgiving, we were here looking through some paperwork that he had and my son-in-law noticed that he had left high school to join the military,” his daughter Elaine Vespia told the local station.
Masterson was just a few months away from graduating before we went to war. The grandfather served 11 months in the Navy during World War II and two years in the Army during the Korean War, according to the outlet.
Vespia wanted to do something special for her dad and decided to reach out to the superintendent of the school district where Masterson attended high school to see if they would honor his time spent fighting for the country toward his degree.