WWII VET GRADUATES 68 YEARS ON
LIKE so many American soldiers returning home from World War II, Bob Barger started working a new job and going to college. Once he settled into his career and raising a family, finishing school was no longer a priority.
Now, 68 years since he sat in a classroom, Mr Barger will graduate from the University of Toledo this week after a review of his transcripts from the late 1940s showed he completed enough courses to qualify for an associate’s degree – a two-year diploma not offered when he was still in school.
“It was something I never dreamed of,” 96-year-old Mr Barger said. “I knew I couldn’t go back to school now.
“I’m going to be proud to hang that diploma on the wall and think about the friends behind it,” he said.
The university took a look at Mr Barger’s old school records because of a friendship he struck up with Haraz Ghanbari, the school’s director of military and veteran affairs.
Mr Ghanbari later found out that Mr Barger never graduated from the university, even though he took a full load of classes from 1947 to 1950.
Barbara Kopp Miller, dean of University College at Toledo said the records showed Mr Barger completed 83 credit hours – about 20 more than what’s required for the associate’s degree that he’ll receive on Saturday.