Five Hall County veterans received their high school diplomas from Hall County Schools at a ceremony Monday afternoon.
Superintendent Will Schofield said the diplomas were earned, not given, to the veterans who dropped out of high school to fight in foreign wars.
Jimmy Arnold Thompson, Larry Dean Martin, Jerry Harold Peck and Lee M. Cain attended the ceremony. James Curtis Reed was unable to attend due to a surgery conflict.
Each had the opportunity to share a few words with the crowd, including some reflection on their service. Thompson, Martin, Peck and Reed all fought in Vietnam; Cain fought in World War II. All of them echoed the same sentiment: this diploma was special.
Governor Nathan Deal made an appearance at the event, delivering a keynote for the commencement.
"While their classmates and friends were back home graduating, they were serving their country in a very difficult and impossible land at a very difficult time in our country ," Deal said of the four that fought in Vietnam. "The fifth veteran being recognized actually served in World War II. When you combine the tragic losses from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, those represent what tens of thousands of young men and women who gave their lives for our country and for our fellow man. It's hard to ever repay those kinds of sacrifice. So this is a very small token, but it's an important one.
Because, sometimes when we say thank you to our veterans and we congratulate them and give them honors, we are generally thinking in terms of what they did while they were wearing a uniform... tonight we are recognizing and honoring you for what you gave up in order to wear that uniform - the completion of your high school education."
Deal also said he was pleased that a his suggestion to the General Assembly several years back allowing school systems to award diplomas to veterans was making a difference.
