While most college students count down the days until they can walk across the commencement stage and bid adieu to the world of academia, rarely do they wait as long as John Fong.
Fong graduated from UCLA in 1968 with a degree in history. His peers included Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar — although John knew him as Lew Alcindor then. The men’s basketball coach was none other than John Wooden.
But like so many men of his age, Fong was never given the opportunity to enjoy the full college experience that culminates with graduation.
The day of his commencement, Fong had other obligations: he was due to report to the U.S. Navy for deployment in the Vietnam War.
He served two terms in Vietnam and eventually returned to civilian life, not giving graduation a second thought.
That is, until he and his wife, Lilly, watched their twin sons graduate in their ceremonies.
“John whispered wistfully to me that he had never walked,” Lilly Fong said in an email to KTLA. “Our sons made it happen now.”
On Sunday, 57 years after he missed his own ceremony, John Fong was given the opportunity to join the 2025 graduating class in the UCLA History Department Commencement.
He was given a reserved seat for the ceremony, his family was in attendance, and he donned the black cap and gown that he himself never got to wear.
His cap with the gold tassel was decorated with a picture of his U.S. Armed Services card and the message, “Drafted in 1968. Walking in 2025!”
Kevin Terraciano, UCLA History Department chair, said it was an honor to have John Fong join the ranks of the 2025 class.
“John Fong is a pleasant, bright person,” Terraciano said. “After the degree procession, I thanked him for his military service and congratulated him on his degree.”
UCLA with the help of John’s children were able to give the 80-year-old American hero the moment in the sun he’d been deprived of for nearly 60 years.
“We are so very grateful to UCLA’s History Department for their royal treatment of John,” Lilly Fong said.
The post Navy vet, 80, joins UCLA graduation after missing his own due to Vietnam draft appeared first on KTLA.
