Five men who left high school before graduation to serve the United States were honored Monday with diplomas.
Gov. Nathan Deal and Board of Education members presented Lee M. Cain, Jimmy Arnold Thompson, Larry Dean Martin, James Curtis Reed and Jerry Harold Peck with the diplomas they had previously sacrificed, Hall County Schools spokesman Gordon Higgins said.
The ceremony took place at 5 p.m. in the sanctuary of the Gainesville First Baptist Church.
Deal gave the keynote speech.
Cain left North Hall High School to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
Thompson, who left East Hall High School prior to graduating, enlisted in the Navy to serve in Vietnam.
Martin and Reed left Johnson High School to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War.
Peck was given an honorary North Hall High School diploma after serving in the Army in Vietnam.
Deal suggested the program to state legislators two years ago, and they approved it.
Monday’s ceremony was the second time the local board of education offered high school diplomas to veterans who left school to serve in times of war.
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