Most of us don’t really think much about teenagers graduating unless it happens to be our own child or a close relative. After all, graduations take place every year and we often have our choice of which one we are going to attend. As the high school students make their way to the stage and then take a walk across to get the piece of paper that they have worked many years to receive. Some will go off to higher education and others will enter the workforce. It’s a time for them to make the decision about what they will do with their life.
As you are able to see, this isn’t the case across the board. After all, there is a man graduating from Snowflake High School in Arizona and he is likely the oldest student you have ever seen. His name is Charles Hall and he is walking across the stage for his diploma, even though he is 95-years old. Charles is a WWII veteran and he has been waiting 80 long years in order to get his diploma.
Charles’ family said that he was an accomplished student when he was in school. He lettered in 3 sports, was the Junior Class President and a good boxer.
When July 1943 rolled around, he heard the call of duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time, he qualified to join the military so he decided to do it right away.
He was part of the last major battle of WWII, the initial invasion of Okinawa. When he was a Marine, he won the Navy Presidential Unit Citation, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Arrowhead, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the Marine Corps Reserve Service Ribbon.
He came back home from the war and went right to work, never taking the time to return to school and finish. His family continued to grow over the years and has 13 children, 52 grandchildren, 155 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren!
Charles admits that he regrets never going back to school. You can’t go home again but this man decided it was never too late to get your diploma.