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THAN A HALF CENTURY IN THE MAKING. IT’S A HAPPY MOMENT. LIKE A KID ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. DAVID DENSMORE GETS EMOTIONAL WHEN LOOKING AT HIS HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. HE’S 76, BUT THIS DIPLOMA IS FRESHLY MINTED. DAVID WAS SUPPOSED TO GRADUATE FROM NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL IN PASADENA IN 1968, BUT INSTEAD AT JUST 17 YEARS OLD, HE ENLISTED IN THE MARINES TO FIGHT IN THE VIETNAM WAR. AND I JUST WANT TO SERVE THE COUNTRY AND MAKE PEACE. IT WAS A CHALLENGING. I GREW UP QUITE FAST, BEING 17 AND BECAME A MAN SIX MONTHS INTO HIS TOUR OF DUTY IN VIETNAM, DAVID CAME DOWN WITH A LUNG INFECTION, WHICH ULTIMATELY SENT HIM BACK HOME FOR TREATMENT. DAVID WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE MARINES IN 1970 AND JOINED THE WORKFORCE, GOT MARRIED AND HAD A COUPLE OF KIDS. HE DIDN’T THINK MUCH ABOUT HIS DIPLOMA UNTIL ABOUT A YEAR AGO, WHEN HE SAW A NEWS STORY ABOUT A WORLD WAR TWO VETERAN WHO GOT HIS DIPLOMA. DECADES LATER, THANKS TO A LITTLE KNOWN LAW. IF YOU LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL, YOU ENLIST IN THE MILITARY. YOU SERVE IN EITHER WORLD WAR TWO, THE VIETNAM CONFLICT, OR THE KOREAN CONFLICT, AND YOU’RE DISCHARGED, YOU KNOW, SUCCESSFULLY. THEN YOU’RE YOU’RE ELIGIBLE FOR A DIPLOMA. SO AFTER SOME RESEARCH, DAVID GOT IN CONTACT WITH THE ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND JUST THIS SPRING, HE GOT HIS HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA, COMPLETE WITH CAP AND GOWN, WITH THE DIPLOMA. I. I FELT EQUAL WITH THE PEOPLE I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH. AND I MISSED. IT WAS A BIG GAP AND I MISSED THAT. BUT WITH THE DIPLOMA, IT’S. I MADE IT. HE’S NOT ABLE TO WALK IN THE GRADUATION CEREMONY ON JUNE 1ST WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS OF 2026, BUT THIS COULD BE THE START OF A LASTING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS ALMA MATER. I’VE ASKED HIM IF, YOU KNOW, IF THERE’S SOME OPPORTUNITY, AT SOME POINT IN TIME, WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT. IF YOU’D BE INTERESTED IN COMING BACK AND SPEAKING TO OUR STUDENTS AND SHARING WITH THEM SOME FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE. DAVID SAYS HE HAS NO REGRETS. HE WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN TO SERVE HIS COUNTRY, BUT HAVING HIS HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA IN HAND COMPLETES AN UNFINISHED CHAPTER IN HIS LIFE AS A PROUD, PROUD THING AND ACHIEVEMENT. AND IT’S A PART OF LIFE. AND I THANK GOD THAT I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO D
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Vietnam War veteran gets high school diploma, fulfilling dream decades later
A 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran from Maryland fulfilled a dream decades after leaving school to serve the nation. David Densmore was supposed to graduate in 1968 from Northeast High School in Pasadena, Maryland. But at 17, he enlisted in the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War.”I just wanted to serve the country and make peace,” Densmore told sister station WBAL. “It was challenging. I grew up quite fast, being 17, and became a man.” Six months into his tour in Vietnam, Densmore developed a lung infection that required him to return home for treatment. After he was discharged from the Marines in 1970, he joined the workforce, got married and had a couple of kids.Densmore didn’t think much about his diploma until about a year ago, when he saw a report about a World War II veteran who got his diploma decades later thanks to a little-known law. Ryan Voegtlin, the assistant superintendent of student services for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, explained the law.”If you leave high school, you enlist in the military, and you served in either World War II, the Vietnam conflict, or the Korean conflict, and you’re discharged successfully, then you’re eligible for a diploma,” Voegtlin explained.After learning about the law, Densmore contacted AACPS and received his diploma — replete with a cap and gown — in the spring.”It’s a proud thing, an achievement, and it’s a part of life,” Densmore said. “I thank God that I had the opportunity to do that.”Although he will not be able to walk with the Northeast High School Class of 2026 in their June graduation ceremony, Densmore said his connection to his alma mater may continue. “I’ve asked him if there’s some opportunity, at some point in time, (to) work something out, if he would be interested in coming back and speaking to our students and sharing with them some firsthand knowledge,” Northeast High School Principal Doug Schreiber said.Densmore said he has no regrets about his decision to serve his country but feels that receiving his diploma completes an unfinished chapter in his life. “With the diploma, I felt equal with the people I went to school with,” Densmore told WBAL. “It was a big gap, and I missed that. But with the diploma, I made it.”
A 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran from Maryland fulfilled a dream decades after leaving school to serve the nation.
David Densmore was supposed to graduate in 1968 from Northeast High School in Pasadena, Maryland. But at 17, he enlisted in the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War.
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“I just wanted to serve the country and make peace,” Densmore told sister station WBAL. “It was challenging. I grew up quite fast, being 17, and became a man.”
Six months into his tour in Vietnam, Densmore developed a lung infection that required him to return home for treatment. After he was discharged from the Marines in 1970, he joined the workforce, got married and had a couple of kids.
Densmore didn’t think much about his diploma until about a year ago, when he saw a report about a World War II veteran who got his diploma decades later thanks to a little-known law.
Ryan Voegtlin, the assistant superintendent of student services for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, explained the law.
“If you leave high school, you enlist in the military, and you served in either World War II, the Vietnam conflict, or the Korean conflict, and you’re discharged successfully, then you’re eligible for a diploma,” Voegtlin explained.
After learning about the law, Densmore contacted AACPS and received his diploma — replete with a cap and gown — in the spring.
“It’s a proud thing, an achievement, and it’s a part of life,” Densmore said. “I thank God that I had the opportunity to do that.”
Although he will not be able to walk with the Northeast High School Class of 2026 in their June graduation ceremony, Densmore said his connection to his alma mater may continue.
“I’ve asked him if there’s some opportunity, at some point in time, (to) work something out, if he would be interested in coming back and speaking to our students and sharing with them some firsthand knowledge,” Northeast High School Principal Doug Schreiber said.
Densmore said he has no regrets about his decision to serve his country but feels that receiving his diploma completes an unfinished chapter in his life.
“With the diploma, I felt equal with the people I went to school with,” Densmore told WBAL. “It was a big gap, and I missed that. But with the diploma, I made it.”
