90-Year-Old WWII Vet Gets His High School Diploma in Vernon

VERNON, CT — A 90-year-old Navy veteran received his high school diploma from Rockville High School on Thursday more than a half-century after leaving school to fight in World War II.

William Tobin was all smiles when he walked up to graduate and shake hands with RHS Principal Andy Rockett, a veteran himself. Other veterans and service personnel at the ceremony congratulated him.

Tobin left school to join the war effort and wound up on Higgins Boats, the formal name for landing craft. He was part of several operations in the Pacific Theater, family members and school officials said.

He served as an electrician after the war, family members and school officials said. State law allows him to graduate because of he left school for the service, has the requirements and because of his honorable discharge.

Photo Credit: Tobin family, RHS