GAINESVILLE - Hall County school board members marked Veterans Day Monday night by observing a state law that awards veterans with their high school diploma if wartime military service prevents them from graduating.
Garnett Baugh would have graduated from East Hall High School in 1968, but instead he fought in the Vietnam War according to Gary Brown, who arranged for Baugh to receive his diploma.
"It's a good thing that the state of Georgia has this caveat that allows people to do that served their country and has their education interrupted," Brown said.
Baugh thanked the board, saying he accepted his diploma in honor of four friends who would never receive their diplomas because they were killed in action in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, a number of ceremonies will be held in the Gainesville area Tuesday in observance of Veterans Day.
Among them: one in downtown Gainesville at the Eternal Flame near City Hall. That will be at 11 a.m. There'll also be a special service in Cleveland at 10:50. In Lula at 11 a.m. ground will be broken on the town's new Veterans' Park. And, Gwinnett County will host its annual Veterans Day ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial.
ONLINE HELP FOR VETERANS
War veterans have always sought one another's companionship, but the days of hanging out with friends at the local veterans' hall may be giving way to the computer age.
Hoping to tap into that virtual community, a public service campaign starting on Veterans Day encourages Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to log onto a new social networking site called www.CommunityofVeterans.org.
American Legion spokesman John Raughter said a Legion post doesn't necessarily have to made of ``bricks and mortar.''
The American Legion and VFW have seen a decline in membership since a peak after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, as World War II veterans and Korean War veterans have died and both are expanding into cyberspace.
Some younger veterans are too busy to join the groups or don't identify with the older veterans, despite outreach efforts.
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On the Net:
Community of Veterans: http://communityofveterans.org/
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: http://www.iava.org/
Ad Council: http://www.adcouncil.org/
Veterans of Foreign Wars: http://www.vfw.org/
American Legion: http://www.legion.org
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
Thursday
October 10th, 2024
2:26AM
