Friday, December 7, 2001
Vet gets diploma after war cuts schooling short (Ranger Times)
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on this day 60 years ago sparked
the kind of patriotism that prompted many young men to quit school
and join the war effort.
For William Thomas, a Ranger High sophomore at the time, that process
proved a little more drawn out, but the results were the same. He quit
school, eventually became a Navy aircraft mechanic, and only years
later realized how much he could've used that high school diploma.
Not having that "little piece of paper" cost him jobs and benefits, he
said.
"Oh, I understood," the 77-year-old Breckenridge welder mused. "So many
times when I was looking for work, a high school education was just one
of the qualifications they insisted on. I can see where I really needed
that diploma - and now that I don't need one, I'm finally getting one."
But that's all right with Thomas, who at 10 a.m. today will receive his
high school diploma during Ranger High's ceremony commemorating the 60th
anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
"It was the perfect time to do it," said district technology director
Stephen "Chip" Lang, who has put together a slide show of war pictures
for the occasion. The school auditorium has been decorated with copies
of World War II-era posters.
To top it off, invitations have been sent to Ranger High graduates from
the late 1930s and early '40s.
All this hoopla leaves the soft-spoken Thomas somewhat embarrassed, though
he still intends to go to Ranger High this morning to pick up his diploma.
Thanks to a new state law, World War II veterans who left school before
getting their diplomas can now obtain them.
Thomas was 17 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, though he got the
news somewhat belatedly on that day of infamy. He had gotten up that morning
and gone hiking into the Eastland County woods with a friend to hunt and
fish.
He didn't return home until late in the day, when his sister told him what
had happened.
"Frankly, it didn't really dawn on me the extent of what had happened," he
said, noting the remoteness of Pearl Harbor to people in rural Eastland
County in the early 1940s. "It wasn't till a day or two later that we
realized the significance. "And then we boys got mad. We got angry."
He left school in January 1942 to try joining the military. He initially
signed up for the draft, which made him ineligible to volunteer for the
armed forces. Until he somehow managed to enter the Navy in March 1943,
he worked other jobs, including helping construct an army hospital in
Temple.
After basic training in San Diego and additional training in Norman, Okla.,
he was assigned to repair trainer planes in Daytona Beach, Fla. Thomas
spent nearly three years in the Navy, an experience he enjoyed - even if
the overseas duty he longed for was denied him.
Following military service, he returned to West Texas and worked in oil
fields and later owned a welding shop. He also attended high school reunions
with the Ranger High class of 1943 - the year he was supposed to graduate.
But that "little piece of paper" was always in the back of his mind.
"I don't know why I never bothered to get a GED," he said. "I can't really
tell you. But I never did. But later I got to where all I wanted was to have
that little piece of paper and frame it and put it up on my wall."
Now that Thomas is finally getting his diploma, his wife, Odalee, says he's
"real excited about it." He even talked about buying a class ring and sending
out invitations.
But as joyful as today's ceremony might be for Thomas personally, he still
thinks of his friends who also marched off to war - only to return to the
rugged West Texas terrain in a casket, if at all.
"Lots of them went off and never came back," he said. "They were like my
friend Eugene Hensen. He went and volunteered after Pearl Harbor, and I
never saw him again. They brought him back after World War II. I was part
of the 21-gun salute at his funeral."
By Sidney Schuhmann (Reporter-News Staff Writer)
Pearl Harbor Remembrance and Graduation Ceremony
Presentation of Colors........................U.S. Navy & Marine Color Guard
Star Spangled Banner..........................Ranger High School Band
Opening and Pledge of Allegiance..............Valerie Noth
Introduction of Special Guest.................Kim Fojtik, Student Council
Patriotic medley of service songs.............Ranger High School Band
Introduction of "Pearl Harbor Remembered".....Kim Fojtik
"Pearl Harbor Remembered".....................Chip Lang
Special Guest Speakers:.......................Arthur Camacho who was held
by the Japanese as a Prisoner of War, who spoke on the effect Pearl
Harbor had on those in the service; George E. Charlang, MSGT (Ret)
USMC who was wounded at Pearl Harbor, who spoke on the attack; and
a Navy officer (Ret) Submarine Service, who spoke on the submarine
service in the pacific.
Ranger I.S.D., School Board, Faculty, and Student Body
Processional..................................Mrs. Wynelle Lang
Invocation....................................Mr. Joe Coppinger
Introduction of Speaker......................Mr. Joe Bond, Principal
Special Graduation Address....................Mr. Jim Keffer, State
Representative
Certification of Candidate for Graduation...d..Mr. Joe Bond
Presentation of Diploma.......................Mr. Rickey Williams,
Superintendent,
Mr. Bob Johnson, President of the School Board
1941 Ranger School Song.......................Ranger High School Band
2001 Ranger School Song.......................Ranger High School Band
Recessional...................................Mrs. Wynelle Lang
Retreat of Colors.............................U.S. Navy & Marine Color Guard
Music