🎓✨ At 98, WWII veteran and Poolesville resident Richard Remp received the high school diploma he forfeited to serve our country. Hand-delivered to his hospice bedside, this diploma marks a heartfelt tribute to his lifetime of bravery and service.
— Montgomery County MD (@MontgomeryCoMD) May 20, 2024
📰 https://t.co/lPqfoBEbM4 pic.twitter.com/TG3bb8EuMV
This story could be framed as a joke: "How long does it take a Marine to graduate from high school?" But it's actually a bittersweet story. Richard Remp of Poolesville, Maryland, is known as Gunny to his friends because he was a decorated gunnery sergeant in Vietnam. Remp did not graduate from high school because he dropped out at age 17 in order to serve in World War II. He stayed in the Marines and also served in Korea, and then in Vietnam. Now 98, Remp is in hospice care due to stage four cancer.
Remp's family, American Legion Post 247, and a caring school superintendent joined forces to issue Remp a diploma from Sharon High School in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Remp did not attend Sharon High School, but the nearby high school he attended could not pull off issuing a diploma in time. Sharon school Superintendent Justi Glaros rallied her school board to approve the diploma, and then drove 4.5 hours to hand-deliver it (along with a Sharon tigers t-shirt) to Remp on Friday. A video of Remp's acceptance speech will bring a tear to your eye. -via Fark