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WWII vets who left school to fight will receive diplomas
By Lynn Hotaling
As part of a statewide effort to recognize those who interrupted their education to fight for their country during World War II, Jackson County Schools will award high school diplomas to 16 veterans during a 7 p.m. ceremony Thursday, Nov. 11, at Southwestern Community College.
"I wanted to have a ceremony to thank them publicly and give them the graduation they never had," said Superintendent Sue Nations. "It's special to give a diploma to anyone, and it means so much to honor those who sacrificed so much to defend our country."
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B. Cowan
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McConnell
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Deitz
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Moore
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Buchanan
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Hall
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Buchanan
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Seward
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Ward
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Vance
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Ashe
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Haskett
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Sutton
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Nations and her assistant, Frankie Harris, used The Sylva Herald, WRGC and local church bulletins to spread the word that veterans who did not graduate because they left school to serve during WWII were eligible to receive diplomas.
Among the first to respond were two Jackson County natives who had lived in Sedro Woolley, Wash., since the late 1940s, Frank Moore and Henry Buchanan, Harris said.
"We talked early on about having a graduation ceremony on Veterans Day even when we had only three or four," Harris said. "It's grown beyond our expectations; I didn't expect to hear from so many."
Jackson County Commissioners' Chairman Stacy Buchanan will be the keynote speaker, and every school will be represented at the event, Harris said. Smoky Mountain High's band and choirs will perform, and marshals will be student council members from Blue Ridge, Cullowhee Valley and Scotts Creek. Fairview's first grade will sing God Bless the USA with assistance from Dana Tucker, Boy Scout Troop 903 of Webster will post and retire the colors and American Legion Post 104 will conduct a flag-folding ceremony. Teachers Joshua Wall of Blue Ridge and Terri Hollifield of the Central Office, along with SMHS student Tonya Pruett, will provide other special music. The Rev. Rich Peoples of Scotts Creek Baptist Church will deliver the invocation.
Diplomas will be awarded by Nations and Ken Henke, chairman of the Jackson County Board of Education.
As of Monday, a total of 16 World War II veterans had completed the necessary paperwork to receive diplomas, Harris said, but it is not too late for others who qualify to join the ceremony. Veterans may still contact Harris at 586-2311, ext. 222 for information. Diplomas may be awarded posthumously.
"I'm so excited," Harris said. "This is the most wonderful thing I've ever done."
Veterans scheduled to receive diplomas Nov. 11 include:
Don Ashe of Sylva, who left Cullowhee High to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-45.
Henry Buchanan of Sedro Woolley, Wash., who left Webster High to serve in the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1944-47.
Dan Buchanan of Sylva, wh left Webster High to serve in the U.S. Marines.
Jack Cowan of Renton, Wash., who left Cullowhee High to serve in the U.S. Army from 1942-45.
Bill Cowan of Horse Shoe, who left Cullowhee High to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Clayton Deitz of Sylva, who left Webster High to serve in the U.S. Navy from 1943-45.
Lyle Hall, who left Webster High to serve in the U.S. Army from 1944-45.
Vernon Haskett, who left Cullowhee High to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1943-46.
Don Hill of Sylva, who left Pekin Community High School in Illinois to serve in the U.S. Marines.
Charles McConnell (deceased), who left Cullowhee High to serve in the U.S. Army from 1943-45.
Frank Moore of Sedro Woolley, who left Sylva High to serve in the U.S. Army.
Hazen Pangle of Dillsboro, who left Sylva High to serve in the U.S. Army from 1943-46.
Marshall Sutton (deceased), who left Sylva High to serve in the U.S. Army from 1942-45.
R.O. Vance of Sylva, who left Webster High to serve in the U.S. Navy from 1945-46.
Jim Ward of Sylva, who left Sylva High to serve in the U.S. Navy from 1945-47.
Glenn Ward of Canton, who left Sylva High to serve in the U.S. Navy.
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