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Seniors Belatedly Receive High School Diplomas

By Daniel Dullum
Spectrum staff writer

Oscar Garcia was supposed to graduate from Courtland High School in 1952. After a 52-year wait, he nearly missed out on his second chance at a high school graduation.

Minutes after the Operation Recognition ceremony began June 1 at the Sacramento County Office of Education, Garcia made a fashionably late entrance, though not by design.

“I came over here this afternoon on a dry run, so I knew the way down here,” Garcia, 71, explained. “I got off the light rail and when I got back on the bus, the bus made a funny turn and took me behind the light rail, so I thought I’d take a short cut.

“I wound up going the other way instead of coming this way,” he continued. “Then when I hit the freeway, I couldn’t jump over the fence, so I figured I’d better retrace my steps. I started running and walking, running and walking. But I got here!”

Garcia, who left high school after his sophomore year to join the U.S. Army’s 187th Airborne Division in Korea, said he wasn’t anxious about being late. “But I made a promise that I would be here,” he said, “and I didn’t want to break my promise.”

Upon his arrival, Garcia cheerfully shook hands with five other veterans who were receiving their diplomas — Lester Laird, 79, of Chino; Charles Marshall, 77, of Galt; and Sacramentans Roy Okino, 76; Frederick Turner, 79; and Willis Wilson, 78.

Laird Marshall, Turner and Wilson all served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Laird earned numerous decorations, including five Bronze Stars.

All of the honorees were saluted by members of Boy Scout troops 353 of Rosemont and 363 of Rancho Cordova as they entered the reception area.

Operation Recognition is an ongoing program that has presented high school diplomas to 41 seniors who missed their original graduations due to service in the military or interment in the Japanese-American relocation centers.

The program, which began in 2001, soon may be expanded to include Vietnam veterans, Office of Education spokeswoman Cathy Sapunor said.

“I’m kind of overwhelmed. I’m running out of words. I never expected anything like this,” Garcia said.

Garcia admitted there were times when not having his diploma worked against him.

“I’d go fill out an application, and I was turned down because I didn’t have a high school education, even though I served in the Army and got an honorable discharge,” he said.

Growing up in Courtland, Garcia and his family worked in the fields picking tomatoes and pears, bucking hay and performing other manual labor.

“I went to the employment office to try and get a job, and they sent me to the tomato machines,” he said. “I went back to farm work later on, because I didn’t know too much about working in the cities.”

Garcia worked in the produce fields for more than 20 years before he relocated to Sacramento and began doing warehouse work.

“I was lucky to get into the International Longshore Warehouse Union and they didn’t ask for a diploma there,” he said. “I did that for 20 years.”

He retired in 1994.

Okino, 75, was interned in a World War II relocation center and later served with the U.S. Army in the Korean War. After leaving the service, Okino went into over-the-road trucking and retired in 1991.

“This is pretty nice. I never really thought I’d get this [diploma],” Okino said. “My wife nominated me. She kept reading about it in the paper, and called to look into it. This is exciting for me.”

It was exiting as well for Willis Wilson and his daughter, Beverly Wilson of Sacramento, who nominated him.

“Oh, yeah. This is a fine thing,” Willis Wilson, who attended Booker T. Washington High School in Seminole, Okla., said. “This means a lot to me.”

It meant a lot to his daughter as well.

“When Dad got his diploma, I was crying,” Beverly Wilson said. “I wasn’t born when he was in, but I knew he went in the Navy when he was 17. We have pictures of him at 17 in his uniform.

“I went down to the VA and saw the papers about it and I filled it out and sent it in,” she explained. “They called back a couple of months later and I told my dad all about how he was going to get his diploma.”

“This is great,” Garcia said. “I’m going to frame this and show this off to my friends! I told my friends I was going to get a diploma and they asked me, ‘How dumb are you? It takes 52 years to finish high school?’

“It took a while, but I made it.”