Korean War veteran earns honorary high school diploma

Raymond Patrick left school in the eighth grade to work on the family farm and support his six siblings and foster siblings.

“I said, ‘Mom, how can you do all of this? You can't do it.’ So I said, ‘I have to help you. I have to be here with you,’” he said.

Then he spent 34 years in the military, and worked in a steel mill for years after that.

“I was sergeant first class. That was my highest rank coming out of Korea,” he said

After a life full of accomplishments, the 90-year-old veteran checked one more off on Friday: he’s now a high school graduate.

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Greensburg Salem High School – which didn’t exist when he was a student – gave Patrick an honorary diploma during graduation ceremonies after his family asked the school if it was a possibility.

“Got some people together and found out they'd be willing to give me a diploma after all these years,” he said. “And that's what happened today.”

Patrick served in Korea in the Airborne Combat Team as a master parachutist. He also served in Special Forces.

Cox Media Group