Program lets veterans get diplomas

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- They left school during World War II to serve their country in the military, then went to work to support themselves and their families and never returned to class to earn their diplomas.
Today, Jim Roberts and Richard Ovitt will finally make up for that interruption when they join the commencement procession at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans along with this year's graduates.
The two neighbors are excited.
"I'm 72 years old. If you stop and think about it, it's kind of amazing. I told my brother and he didn't believe it," said Ovitt, a retired mill worker.
He and Roberts will be joined by Fabio Choiniere, who left school to work and then joined the military during the Korean War.
The three are participating in a four-year-old state program that awards honorary diplomas to veterans of World War II and the Korean War who didn't finish high school.
Similar programs
A number of other states have similar programs and Vermont's was modeled after one in Massachusetts, said Clayton Clarke, veterans affairs coordinator for the state.
Since Vermont's program began in 2002, it has awarded diplomas to 136 WW II veterans and 34 Korean War vets.
Jim Brouillette of the American Legion post in St. Albans helped arrange the honorary diplomas for Roberts, Ovitt and Choiniere. That brings the number he's helped obtain honorary diplomas to 30.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.