Muscatine, Iowa — When Dennis Snyder of Muscatine, Iowa, took his yearbook photos more than six decades ago, he thought he would be a member of the graduating class of 1963.
“It’s hard to believe I was ever that young,” Snyder joked to CBS News.
The summer before his junior year at Muscatine High School, the Vietnam War was heating up. Snyder volunteered to join the Navy. The 17-year-old Iowa farm boy was sent to a base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The choice to serve his country meant Snyder missed the chance to graduate from the hometown school he loved.
“I wanted to get my diploma through the high school any way that I could,” explained Snyder, who obtained his GED, but wanted a diploma from Muscatine High.
This year, his decades-long dream was finally realized, when he became one of a handful of octogenarians in Iowa who enlisted during the Vietnam War to finally get their high school diplomas.
Snyder and another veteran, 81-year-old Richard Hill, along with their much younger senior peers, donned caps and gowns as part of the Muscatine High class of 2025.
“Some of them were giving me thumbs up,” Snyder said of the graduating students. “When I got that diploma, I felt like a million dollars.”
They are part of Operation Recognition, a program through the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs that’s given more than 100 veterans a chance to graduate.
“I think it’s the least we can do for veterans that serve our country, and that’s why they have the program, so they can close that chapter,” said Eric Sanders, director of Muscatine County Veterans Affairs.
Snyder says he shares the honor with high school friends who never made it home from the war.
“We have seven that were killed in Vietnam…I knew all seven of them,” Snyder said. “One was a very good friend.”
Snyder believes there are many more veterans around the country that deserve their diplomas and the recognition of service that comes with it.
“I am honored to be at this point,” Snyder said. “And, you know, I don’t have a lot of years left…but I’m going to enjoy this diploma for the rest of my life.”
Lana Zak is an anchor for CBS News 24/7 and a CBS News national correspondent.
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