Diplomas at Last for Proud Veterans

It was 1942 and Bill Carreon wasn’t concerned much with the prom or graduation. As with many of his classmates at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, his thoughts were focused on faraway battlefields.

So in November of his junior year, Carreon, now 73, left girlfriend Priscilla, his family and school to fight with the 3rd Infantry Division in Europe.

On Saturday, Carreon and 45 of his classmates who also left the school before graduation to fight in World War II finally received their diplomas.

Teary-eyed and proud, the men lined up wearing red caps with gold tassels for the graduation ceremonies in the school auditorium.

“It’s an emotional day,” said graduate Val Rodriguez, 68. “All my brothers and sisters received their diplomas here. But I dropped out. So now I have come back to get it.”

When he was 16, Rodriguez was rejected by the Selective Service because he was too young. Later that year, he tried again, lied about his age and was soon sent off to Europe.

“We wanted to go,” he said. “My god, we wanted to. We had this love of country that’s hard to compare to students today.”

As the men marched across the stage to shake hands with Principal Henry Ronquillo, their families and friends applauded wildly.

“Turn your tassel, Dad!” one woman yelled. “Go Grandpa!” shouted another.

Josephine Smith, 94, came to see her only son, Cruz, graduate, half a century after he left to fight in the South Pacific.

“I feel so happy for my son,” she said.

The ceremony was conceived several months ago by seven of the veterans. Some of the men went on to graduate from college, but they still regretted never getting their diplomas from Roosevelt.

So they sought the help of Ronquillo and Bob Archuleta, commissioner of the Los Angeles County Veterans Advisory Commission.

“It’s a reunion,” Archuleta said. “In many cases some of these people haven’t seen each other for 50 years. And the real significance is that [Friday] was the anniversary of the Normandy landing.”

Tony Castaneda Jurado, 77, fought in Normandy for the 4th Armored Division. With short-cropped hair and wearing his American Legion hat, he paged through a scrapbook.

“That was my general,” he said, pointing to a picture of Gen. George Patton.

Later, he gave the book to the school for its historical collection, handing it to the principal, taking three stiff paces back and saluting.

Before the ceremony, while big band music roared from a gazebo, many veterans wandered around the grounds, noting how their campus had changed.

“That used to be Fickett Street right there,” said Rodriguez, referring to what is now the central courtyard. “There, there was a little grocery store.”

Other veterans stood reminiscing around a photo collage of their high school football days.

James Tolmasov, a Russian American who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, pointed out a picture of him wearing a leather football helmet.

“That’s how I broke my tooth,” he said. “Those [helmets] just kept your ears from being ripped off.”

Included among those honored Saturday were six Roosevelt students who died during the war. In most cases, family members received the diplomas. In the case of fallen serviceman Peter Aragon, the best man at his wedding did.

Frank Romero, 70, graduated with 35 family members present. Romero enlisted in the Navy when he was 17, but was rejected because he was too small.

“I had to go home and eat burritos for two months,” he said. After two months of eating, the Navy accepted him.

Although none of the men regretted their decision to go to war, some of them lamented not finishing high school.

“A lot of these guys feel that they didn’t get a chance to earn [a diploma],” said Bob Zamora, a veteran who helped organize this event. “They’ve always wanted it.”