In 1964, Francis Dady quit school at age 17 to enlist in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
While his father consented, his mother refused to give permission until her husband convinced her otherwise. But she soon regretted her decision when she learned he would be attending “jump school” to jump out of airplanes.
“I wanted to be a paratrooper,” said Mr. Dady, now 69, of Baldwin Borough.
At age 18, he was sent to Bien Hoa, Vietnam, where he helped clear jungles to secure the local airport. He also climbed through tunnels in search of the enemy Viet Cong and their weapons stashes and more because, at 120 pounds, he was small enough to fit.
As he could not be promoted to sergeant until he earned his high school equivalency diploma, he took and passed the General Educational Development (GED) tests in 1966 in Vietnam. When he returned to the jungle, it was as a sergeant.
On Nov. 9, to coincide with Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Mr. Dady was awarded his high school diploma in a ceremony during the Baldwin-Whitehall School Board meeting.
“On Veterans Day, we have a chance to say ‘thank you’ for all our veterans have done for us, and to do something meaningful to them in return,” Superintendent Randal A. Lutz said.
The Baldwin High School Class of 1967 diploma and a purple graduation cap were presented to him by high school Principal Dr. Walter Graves, and drew a standing ovation from board members and attendees.
He received the honor as part of the state ''Operation Recognition,'' which allows districts to grant diplomas to honorably discharged veterans of World War II, the Korean Conflict, or the Vietnam War who did not graduate due to entry into military service.
“I wanted all veterans to know they could do this, and it is the 50th anniversary for veterans who were there [Vietnam] at the beginning,” Mr. Dady said of its significance to him.
Mr. Dady was honorably discharged in 1967, after which he re-enlisted in 1972. The war ended in 1973. He never jumped from a plane in Vietnam.
His next attempt to re-enlist was rejected due to post-traumatic distress and pulmonary problems he attributed to exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.
“I planned on being a lifer,” he said.
Mr. Dady retired from the Liquor Control Board (LCB) in 2000 due to 100 percent service-connected disability.
He and his wife, Patricia, have two children.
“I’m very proud to have been where I was.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” he said of his service.
Mr. Dady “capped” the ceremony by tossing his graduation cap in the air, not once, but twice.
“It was spectacular. I was so honored to be part of it,” board President Tracy Macek said.
Margaret Smykla, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: November 18, 2016, 5:00 a.m.