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Subscribe to RSSAfter a life filled with both tragedies and triumphs, an 86-year-old World War II veteran receives his high school diploma. KCBD's Tiffany Pelt reports.
Jack Fletcher was in his senior year of high school in Spur, Texas, when World War II broke out. Graduation would have to wait -- 70 years, as it turned out.
Fletcher traveled the world after the war and now lives in Australia, but a special ceremony brought him back as an honorary graduate of the Spur High School Class of 2012, NBC station KCBD of Lubbock reported.
"I had to look to make sure they put a certificate in there," he laughed after the graduation ceremony. "I was afraid they were kidding me!"
Born in 1925 in Spur, Fletcher moved with his family to another town. But in 1941, after Fletcher's parents were killed in a car accident, he and his siblings moved back to Spur to live with their grandparents.
But before Fletcher's senior year was over, World War II erupted.
"Oh man, me and my three brothers all volunteered as quickly as we could," Fletcher told KCBD.
See the original story at KCBD
"My friend Corbit said I'll go to Europe to win the war, and you go to the Pacific and win it out there, and we'll get back together. God bless him, he was killed in his first mission," Fletcher told KCBD. "We had seven buddies of mine that were killed. I was pulled back to headquarters before they came up the ridge and that's the only reason I'm still here. It bothered me for a long time … I should have been with them, you know."
Fletcher left the military in 1946 and found his way back to Spur.
"When I got off the bus at the end of my lane, there sat David," Fletcher said as he began to cry. "That little dog … my grandmother said he waited at the end of the lane each day when I left."
As quickly as Fletcher returned to Spur, he left once again. He traveled the world working in the agricultural business. Fletcher found himself in Australia and helped to create the Australian Land and Cattle Co.
"We bought 4.3 million acres of country, a ranch about 11 times the size of Dickens County," he said.
But at age 86, something was still missing. On May 25, Fletcher came back to Spur to join the Class of 2012 as an honorary graduate.
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Jack Fletcher is seen during his graduation ceremony May 25 in Spur, Texas.
"The superintendent assured them I was no slow learner, even though it's taken me 70 years," he said.
Though age separated Fletcher from the 10 teens graduating, he had no trouble fitting in as he joked around with the group.
"If you would have waited until you were 86 years old to graduate, you could've had a camera come film you," he joked with one of the grads.
The first named called, Fletcher walked across the stage in his blue cap and gown and finally received his high school diploma. He ended the day by tossing his cap with the other graduates.
"Spur will always hold a special place in my heart," he said.
Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from NBC station KCBD's Tiffany Pelt.
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I'm glad he graduated and I thank him for serving this country.
He served his country, and graduated from high school, but it is so very sad since now he will be unable to find a job, and he will realize to get a decent job, he needs a college degree. Too bad. (all sarcasm, and kidding)
Kevin C, you are a true jackass. Did you read the story about him? Apparently not! He doesn't need a job. I think he served his time. It's obvious you didn't serve!
Aggie...it was a JOKE!!! He even said so in the post...now who isn't reading the whole thing?? Chill! Congrats to Mr. Fletcher, and thank you for your service...you do your country--and your classmates--proud.
C'mon, Aggies are doing well to read at all ...
Blow me. haha
Clearly, Aggie can't read, and yes, I did serve honorably for 7.5 years in the Air Force.
That's weird. Aggie's an air head too.
No offense, but what's the point?
It's a human interest story. If you don't care about it, then don't read it.
Great accomplishment ! You deserve the best and exemplify the need for knowledge! You give a shining example to the old phrase- "Stay green and growing- or rot on vine" Excellent!!!!
Congrats Jack and a BIG THANK YOU for serving the greatest country in the world. My father was 1st Division Marine, Guadacanal just maybe you were there together. Glad to see you made it back.
My father went there (Guadacanal) in the Navy. He's been gone for almost two decades. It's good to see a nice, heart-warming positive story, particularly about one of his near-peer. (Agree with Brokaw that those guys truly were "The Greatest Generation".) Everything doesn't have to be about the stagnant economy, mass murder in Syria, stalemate in Afghanistan, etc. Good on MSNBC for running this!
Well snikt lets see,if he and many others had not left their comfortable homes and High School( just as my Father did also.) we may have been totally wiped out in case you didnt know WWII was a big one.DUH maybe you need to go back ans study up on your history.Enough said.
Snikt: To be nice. Education is valuable, and this guy made a huge sacrifice to serve his country. A lot of people take a high school education for granted, but it still means something to him.
Before we gush too much - it was handed to him. He didn't seek to finish the school's requirements, hence the honorary bit.
Well deserved, Jack. Congratulations on your diploma and thank you for your courageous service to our nation.
I always thought that the verb graduate was intransitive. I understand that someone can graduate from high school, but I don't think they can graduate high school. Or have I been wrong all these years?
YES, Curious Greg, This is a real THING with me. I'm glad you spelled out the exact grammar rule. I'll bet I have written 500 letters on this subject. Besides it just sounds ignorant.
My next favorite are people who call Canada Geese "Canadian" Geese. Check the species, people.
Are we both fighting losing battles? I do note he was graduated from a high school in Texas.
Gotta luv the grammar and spelling Nazis.
The constant grammar and spelling blunders are unbelievable. MSNBC writers seems particularly bad. Without intelligence we would have ( ).
I believe the correct spelling is "Natzis."
No, the correct spelling is 'Nazis'. How far have we come that 70 years ago, Nazis were something to be feared and killed. Now, we use that word for anyone who is overly strict. Good or bad? I'm not sure.
to the above sir: 'graduate' isn't used as a passive verb anymore. so, hence, no "was graduated"...if we really want to be picky.
I was joking Tim, obviously if I was a real "Natzi" I would've went after his spelling of love, rather than the correct spelling of Nazi. I know, so subtle, I know....
Thank you Sir and the best of luck. I was fortunate to go on an Honor Flight with gentlemen (and a few ladies) who had stories just like this. It was the nurse though that was most humbling- telling how those "boys" in the hospital would flirt and play pranks on the nurses and having to smile when a good cry would be in order. Hats off and Godspeed to all Vets.
Fantastic. The utmost respect to him for serving our country and defending our freedom. Without him, we wouldn't have the privelege to get a high school education so easily. Thank you.
Another member of "the greatest generation", still getting the job done. As for the diploma being "honorary", damn right it is. Thank you, Jack Fletcher, for your service and your example to your fellow graduates. I hope they will never forget it, and maybe even pass it on.
The honor is mostly the school district's, for his coming in. He's done a lot to "honor" them. In some states the diplomas are considered to have been "earned" rather than honorary, and why not? More was done to "earn" this award than some "doctoral" degree so often given to a college's supporters for a really nice, big check.
Thank you Jack for your service and sacrifices. I'm glad you've had a good life and now you can finally have that diploma you so well deserve.
I'll bet if Jack had written the article he would have stated that he graduated FROM high school. One can't graduate A high school.
Congratulations, Jack. Thanks for your service.
Now This is truly the 'Dream Act" Serve our Country first then continue your education....Thank you for your service....
Nice to find out the he FINALLY got his VA Educational benefits.
Breaking news, 86 year old man graduates college then dies one week later.
This reporter says, what a waste of his final days just to prove a point.
Now the business world just lost a potential worker.
This is a great thing. Here's another from my neck of the woods. 85yr old Burt Noe graduated with 6 others as a member of Rock River, Wyoming class of 2012. For Burt graduation day wasn't a milestone opening the door to life's opprortunities it was a culmination of a life long dream. Check it out May 28th 2012. Congatulations Jack and Burt you made it. casper star tribune .com
Like many others, my Dad never graduated from high school, he went to war. He never had the chance to complete that educational milestone, but he was a successful and very intelligent man. He worked on and flew B17's and B25's in WWII. He worked on and helped perfect Pratt & Whitney turbine engines for helicopter applications during the Korean War. He worked on and flew Huey and Cobra helicopters during the Vietnam conflict. He taught numberless soldiers and airmen how to care for the powerplants and drivetrains on helicopters, and in the process saved countless lives. He taught me more about being a craftsman and an aerospace engineer than anyone else even came close. He died 2 years ago, at the age of 93, and I will never meet anyone else like him. He, too, was part of the "greatest generation", and I for one am damn proud to have known him, as my Dad and as a friend. I feel confident that Jack and Burt would feel the same, and would have made him get up on the stage with them.
Anyway, congrats to Jack and Burt. I salute you for never, never, giving up on what matters most to you.
As a daughter to a Holocaust survivor, these vets are my greatest heroes, without you I wouldn't be here and my children wouldn't be here. I am so proud for this achievement, words can't describe how proud I am. Well done! And thank you!
.
"At 86, WWII vet from graduates high school" - caption under picture on main page. Did this caption writer graduate from high school?
Now he just needs to find a job. Economic conditions are pretty tough right now.
What a sweet story. A nice change up from face-eating-zombie-drug-addicts that are in the news this week.
My father was in Mr. Fletcher's generation, too. With just an 8th grade education, my father enlisted and served in the European theater during WWII. He received two purple hearts and several other medals. Upon his return, he went to work, married our mother, and joined the millwrights. He worked his way through the ranks until he was the general superintendent for a large, nationally-based, conveyer company. (If you get your electrical power from a coal-generated power plant, chances are he was in charge of having the conveyers installed.) The engineers came to him to work them through the applications, dynamics, and physics of actual operation and applied technology--all on that 8th grade education.
Take it for what it's worth: he had more knowledge and skills than any high school education would have given him. However, I think he might have liked to have had the diploma.
He passed several years ago, but his legacy of hard work and due diligence was passed along to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We all have college educations or are journeymen in a trade (or both!). All of the grandkids have college educations. My granddaughter will be a high school senior next year, and because of her particular field of study (electrician!), she has already been approached with job offers once she graduates. Earning that diploma is worth every single moment of effort.
Thank you, Mr. Fletcher for your fine service and example. Thank you, Spur, Texas, for taking the time to honor this gentleman for his lifetime of achievement.
(As for the few trolls on this vine, it just occurred to me as to why you bothered to comment: Since this article wasn't all about YOU, you needed to try to tear someone else down, to make at least part of it about you. How sad that your self esteem is so low. The best way to raise your self esteem is to build someone else up, not tear them down--and that's not a lesson you learn in school. It's a lesson you learn in life.)
well said!!!!
You inspired me to mention my father-in-law who died 29 years ago. He was never graduated from as much as grammar school because he went to work helping his father as a kid in the teeth of the Depression, sometimes making 10 cents a day while his father made 25. He got a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge as an unarmed combat medic, and later survived a massacre by the Germans by lying still and being covered in so much (other people's) blood that they left him for dead without shooting him. He was a very gutsy man, much like this old fellow. He stayed here and served the country more as a Department of Defense civilian worker for over three decades and then died within a year and a half of retiring. I wish that he could have seen how much more these veterans have come to be honored now -- when I was young they were largely taken for granted, in part because there were millions of them, and in part because they were of an era when men were taught that it was inappropriate to draw attention to themselves and many never even asked for the things which they richly deserved. At least the WII guys were not rejected by lots of their countrymen as crazed babykillers the way that so many of the Viet Nam guys were, for the most part totally unfairly. Hope never to see anything like that again on such a mass scale.
Rlquall and others, a serious question. I do not really remember Vietnam vets being rejected, as "crazed babykillers" or otherwise, when they came home, although I hear many people say that it happened. I remember a lot of them being pitied because they were maimed or suffered PTSD, but I do not remember enmity toward them. Do you, or others, have lots of recollections of that happening to people on a personal level, as opposed to people just stating that overall the war had been a bad idea? I do not remember individual vets being mistreated, although one hears it said regularly that it occurred. Honestly, I am not looking for an argument, just for people's personal experiences and recollections.
Chuck, if you have the opportunity, go back and watch the old newsreels from Vietnam era. I'm sure some larger libraries will have the records. I remember watching TV when our vets returned and them being spit upon. I also remember the "Love Culture Hippies" waving their signs and posters about "baby killers." It didn't happen in our hometown, but it did happen. It was a horrible scene.
It was one of the reasons I didn't enlist in the military once I graduated high school. In hindsight, it wouldn't have been a real issue, but it was a very in-your-face confrontation at the time.
Many of our Vietnam Vets were treated horribly by many. That behavior should have been criminally prosecuted (again, hindsight.) However, it was a different time with different attitudes and standards. All eras have their markers, and the 60s and 70s have much to be ashamed of. History has a way of rewriting itself, but those of us who lived through it, we have not forgotten.
Our current enlisted men and women, as well as our veterans, deserve our respect and admiration. It's a very difficult job to do, and it is not for those who don't realize the importance or the responsibility that goes along with it.
Thanks, Zapper, for the INFO. I am of that era, and remember all the discussions, but do not recall the footage, so I appreciate you telling me that you recall it. Not that it matters, but my view is that there is nothing prosecutable (if that is even a word) because what you describe (other than the spitting, which would be prosecutable, I guess) was a way of exercising one's right to free speech. I guess for me, since I opposed the war but did not particularly blame the soldiers as opposed to the decision-makers, the conduct you describe would be tasteless and unfair, but still protected free speech. It would seem to be an illustration of the fact that just because we may have a "right" to do something, doesn't make it the "right" thing to do. Imagine if everyone went around exercising all their "rights" at the same time. Worse than chaos.... Anyway, I appreciate the enlightenment. Have a good one.
First, Thank You Jack for your service and sacrifice. You truly are an inspiration to those that are younger and need to learn humility and sacrifice.
Zapper, thank you for reminding others that the Vets from Vietnam were treated horribly when they came home. My brother who died 6 years ago was a Vietnam Vet ( exposed to something and it killed his kidneys, he died waiting for a transplant)
To all those that have done so much for us, we thank you and we honor you as you honor us with your service, sacrifice and devotion.
If only people would have half the love and loyalty of a dog, the world would be a better place.
Better late than never. Way to go Fletcher.
Way to go buddy.PS it is my fervent hope you die of old age or get senile before we pervert any more or destroy the country you served and helped win a world war.
Mr. Fletcher didn't get an education (no one does). He educated himself. That's the only way to be educated.
Congratulations! It's never too late to educate yourself, or get a degree!