Posted on 05/18/2024 4:25:03 PM PDT by Libloather
A dying Marine veteran was finally handed his high school diploma while receiving hospice care after dropping out to fight in World War Two over eight decades ago.
Richard Remp, a 98-year-old marine veteran in hospice care, left school at 17 years of age to serve in World War II, before later continuing his service in Korea and Vietnam.
But on Friday he was finally handed the high school diploma he had longed for all these years but never received.
Remp told local San Antonio NBC affiliate NEWS4SA: 'On behalf of myself and the Marine Corps, I thank you very much for what you have done for me. I'll never forget this. How can I with all you good people around me? I'm really happy'.
Known affectionately as 'Gunny' for his role as a gunnery sergeant in Vietnam, Remp found himself in hospice care at home after doctors diagnosed him with stage four cancer following a recent fall.
Determined to fulfill Remp's lifelong wish, his family and friends at the nearby American Legion Post 247 devised a plan to secure his high school diploma.
They reached out Remp's original school district in Sharon, Pennsylvania, a little over an hour north of Pittsburgh, but the school was unable to get the job done in time.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
SEMPER FI, Sir....
You are relieved, Sargeant. :)
my older brother, a Marine, arranged for dad to get his diploma from Annapolis High with a bunch of other men who joined the war effort without getting their HS diplomas...it was a special ceremony and meant a lot to my father..
dear brother the Marine was exposed to agent orange in Nam and got very bad Parkinson's and has passed...age early 70's.....
life is not really fair, ever...
The Greatest Generation.
“I shall not look upon his like again.” - Shakespeare
My father's rural high school only went up to the 11th grade, so he graduated a couple of months after his 17th birthday. My grandparents refused to sign the enlistment form until he graduated (he was underage), so he enlisted in the Navy the day after his graduation. He was a fighter pilot in WWII.
Hand salute to this Marine.
RIP, Marine. Thank you for your service.
My hat is off to this hero! How wonderful that he was recognized this way.
My FIL went to military school so at 17 was a first lieutenant in WWII. He went to Africa first and then through Italy. If he were still alive today, he would’ve been 100. Died at 92. Rarely talked about his time in the foxholes.
My godfather was in WWII and went from Africa up through Italy. He said they slept in their fox holes and didn’t get a shower or bath from October until April. He didn’t say much about it except you can’t understand unless you were there.
*** He didn’t say much about it except you can’t understand unless you were there.***
That was my FIL. I remember one year when my kids were in grade school and learning about WWII in social studies class. If the students knew a veteran they were encouraged to write them a thank you letter, and if they didn’t, names were provided. So our son wrote to his grandpa.
When we saw him at Thanksgiving, my son asked him if he got his letter, and grandpa said yes. Then my son told him he’d like to hear from him what it was like. Grandpa simply said, “You don’t want to know. It wasn’t very nice.” He left it right there. That was it. No more conversation than that.
My husband is the only boy in his family, so we have all of Grandpa’s medals, including his Purple Heart. These men didn’t want to talk about what they saw, and what they had to do.
My own father is several years younger, and would be 95 this year if he were still with us. He served on the back end of the war, during the Berlin airlift, and then at the beginning of the Korean War. If it weren’t for his records, we wouldn’t know much about his experience either.
God bless these men and what they endured.
Sounds like there were a lot of 17 year olds fighting like real men back then. Life and expectations were sure different. These days 17 year olds are only “teenagers” with 8 more years before their brains are “fully developed”, so they get a “pass” by society until then.
Your post is one of the few times I wish there was a Like button on this forum.
Well said. Thank you, for all of us.
;)
Yet in all those war movies Hollyweird shows soldiers in their 30’s and 40’s, no teen’s which were the majority recruits and draftees. Kids would lie about their age to be able to join up. Today they’re upset over the color of their cellphone.
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