96-year-old WWII vet finally receives high school diploma after draft cut his senior year short

A 96-year-old World War II vet finally got his high school diploma — complete with a graduation cap and tassel — decades after the draft cut his senior year short.

Arthur Masterson, of Warwick, Rhode Island, was surprised with the official paper from East Greenwich schools as a Christmas gift from his family, WJAR reported Sunday.

“On Thanksgiving, we were here looking through some paperwork that he had and my son-in-law noticed that he had left high school to join the military,” his daughter Elaine Vespia told the local station.

Masterson was just a few months away from graduating before we went to war. The grandfather served 11 months in the Navy during World War II and two years in the Army during the Korean War, according to the outlet.

Vespia wanted to do something special for her dad and decided to reach out to the superintendent of the school district where Masterson attended high school to see if they would honor his time spent fighting for the country toward his degree.

She sent an email to East Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Brian Ricca who was happy to help.

“So often as a superintendent, my response even after doing digging and looking is no. It felt so good to say yes,” Ricc told WJAR.

The whole family gathered on Christmas day and handed the veteran his official diploma while they placed a graduation cap on his head.

“A lot of us were really in tears it was just a really happy moment that we could give it to him,” Vespia said.

Masterson could barely believe it, according to a video of the surprise.

“A diploma after all these years?!” he said before smiling and giving a thumbs up for his “graduation” photo.

School officials also included his school paperwork from 1945 as well as a school photo, the family said.

“I told the superintendent, I said, ‘You’ll never know how much this meant to be able to give that to my dad for Christmas’,” Vespia said.

Ricc said it was an honor to do so.

“I hope that this is a small token that we can add in terms of our gratitude for what he has done for our country and that he knows that he has earned it in every sense of the word,” he said.