The 90-year-old graduate: Korean War vet finally gets high school diploma

MOULTONBOROUGH — In the fall of 1951, Dick Carlson was entering his senior year at Reading Memorial High School in Reading, Massachusetts. He wasn’t sure of what he’d do after high school — he’d been working for a carpenter, so he’d probably follow that path — but any plans he had were interrupted when his country called.

Carlson, who has lived in Moultonborough for 32 years, turned 18 during the first semester of his senior year. In December, he was drafted for military service, as the country was engaged in what would later become known as the Korean War. Deciding that he didn’t want to join the U.S. Army, he enlisted into the U.S. Air Force in January 1952, and that was the end of his high school career.

That is, until just last week when, on June 2, he was invited to attend the commencement ceremonies in Reading, where Carlson, now 90, was handed something long overdue: A high school diploma.

Carlson was the oldest of three children, born at the family home, on South Street in Reading, on Oct. 22, 1932. His father, who worked as an engineer, had a college degree, and he said his lack of a high school diploma nagged at him for decades.

“I didn’t feel very good [about it], because everyone I knew that had a diploma had a good job,” Carlson said. But it never seemed to make a material difference to him, because he felt proud of his service to his country, and by the time he was discharged, he had a marketable skill.

“I spent four years in the Air Force,” Carlson said. “I didn’t fly a plane. I had many of them in the air, but I didn’t fly a plane. I became a crane operator.”

Carlson did his basic training at Sampson Air Force Base in upstate New York, then was sent to Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, and then to a school, run by the U.S. Army, to learn how to operate cranes. Before he could even finish the program, he was shipped to Okinawa, Japan, for what turned into a two-year tour.

After his military obligation was satisfied, Carlson continued operating cranes in the private sector, a career that kept him busy for four decades.

Carlson fathered five daughters, and now has 15 grandchildren. He raised his family in Massachusetts, but relocated to Moultonborough after a divorce.

“I’m just a regular guy who did a regular job. Can’t beat that, I guess,” Carlson said.

But there was something left unfinished, and that something was addressed by one of his daughters, who worked her professional contacts to get her father something he sacrificed in order to answer the call to serve.

So, now that he has his diploma, what’s next?

“I don’t know, probably college, or going to the moon,” Carlson joked, though he also noted that New Hampshire residents 65 and older can take classes at state colleges for no charge. “What the hell have I got to learn? I know everything there is.”

Carlson has established a pleasurable routine in his retirement, one that involves collecting construction watch fobs, lunches with friends and nearby relatives, and daily indulgences in ice cream — even when the winter temperatures plunge to well below zero.

Carlson’s favorite treat is a coffee frappe from Skelley’s Market. That was where he was surprised by Patrick Andrew, superintendent of Moultonborough, who presented him with a certificate of celebration in honor of his high school diploma.

“I think your determination, your story, is an inspiration to all students,” Andrew said.

He said the important message from Carlson’s story is that he managed to get a useful education through his military service, and he was able to convert that into a career.

Andrew said the message is “the importance of hard work, perseverance. Your degree doesn’t determine what you can do with your life. Education is important, but it’s not the piece of paper, it’s what you put in your head,” that matters.

Thomas Milaschewski, superintendent of the Reading, Massachusetts, public school system, said the honor was made possible due to a state law (Part I, Title XII, Chapter 71, Section 4) which affords public school districts with the ability to award a diploma to anyone who left their high school prior to graduation for the purpose of military service during World War II, or the Korean or Vietnam wars, and was honorably discharged.

"This was an extremely special moment for our entire Reading community. Richard received a well-deserved standing ovation from students and the community at the graduation," Milaschewski said. "It was such an honor to grant a diploma to someone in our community who left high school to serve our country during a time of war."

Carlson had a few pieces of advice for young people of today: Take care of their health, stay away from drugs, and find a way to educate themselves.

“If any one of those kids wants to call me up, I’ll tell them, they should graduate or go into the Air Force. One or the other,” Carlson said.