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Liberty Caller Editorial Team

Vietnam Vets HONORED – Diplomas at Last!

Three Vietnam-era veterans finally received their high school diplomas in Iowa, more than six decades after they left school to answer America’s call to service.

At a Glance

  • Three Iowa veterans – Dennis Snyder, Richard Hill, and Robert Holliday – received high school diplomas 60 years after enlisting in the military
  • Snyder and Hill, both 81, walked across the stage at Muscatine High School’s graduation ceremony to receive their diplomas
  • The diplomas were awarded through Iowa’s Operation Recognition program with signatures from Governor Kim Reynolds
  • Eight veterans with ties to Muscatine have received diplomas through this program in the past three years
  • The veterans served in various capacities during the Vietnam War era, sacrificing their education to protect their country

Veterans Honored Decades After Service

Dennis Snyder and Richard Hill stood tall as they walked across the stage at Muscatine Community Stadium, becoming the first to receive diplomas during Muscatine High School’s graduation ceremony. At 81 years old, both men finally claimed what they had given up as teenagers when they answered the call to serve their country during the Vietnam War era. The graduation ceremony saw them walking alongside approximately 320 current graduating students, bridging generations of Americans who served their country in different ways.

The third veteran honored, 85-year-old Robert Holliday, received his diploma at home. Holliday had left school to join the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and served in Vietnam, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, and Germany. The three men represent part of a generation that put country before personal accomplishment, leaving behind educational opportunities to defend American interests abroad during a turbulent time in world history.

A Lifetime of Service Recognized

Snyder left high school at 17 to enlist in the Navy, serving from 1961 to 1965. During his service, he was primarily stationed at Pearl Harbor and worked under an admiral overseeing anti-submarine warfare operations in the Pacific. Hill’s military journey took him to Vietnam, where his service concluded in 1969. Both men returned to civilian life without the formal recognition of completing their high school education, despite building successful lives and careers afterward.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Snyder said. “I told my wife, and she said, ‘What?’ Of course, she started crying right away. I was just shocked.”

Although Snyder had obtained his GED after returning from service, receiving an actual high school diploma held special significance. The diplomas awarded to these veterans were honorary, signed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds through the state’s Operation Recognition program. This initiative specifically honors veterans who left school to serve during wartime, acknowledging the educational sacrifice they made in service to their nation.

Community Celebration of Sacrifice

The graduation ceremony became not just a personal milestone for the veterans but a community-wide celebration of their service and sacrifice. Family members filled with pride watched as these men received long-overdue recognition. For many in attendance, the ceremony offered a powerful reminder of the continuing debt owed to those who served during one of America’s most controversial conflicts, when many veterans returned home without proper acknowledgment.

“Getting it now, I look back and I think, ‘Well, everything that I did with the service and everything was all worth it,'” Snyder reflected after the ceremony.

For Hill, the recognition stirred complex emotions about opportunities missed in youth. “I don’t know how to accept it, you know, because I didn’t get a chance, going through school,” he said. The veterans’ families shared in the emotional significance of the moment. Snyder’s granddaughter, Emily Lerch, emphasized the community aspect of the recognition: “It’s really a community effort. It’s just really special that he was able to receive this and was able to have this moment with not only us, but with the whole Muscatine community.”

These three veterans join five others with ties to Muscatine who have received diplomas through Operation Recognition in the past three years, part of a growing national movement to honor the educational sacrifices made by those who served. For many Americans, particularly those who remember the divisive era of the Vietnam War, such ceremonies represent a long-overdue recognition of veterans who put duty to country above personal advancement.

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