The 100-year-old veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War plans to attend to celebrate his 100th birthday and honor his contributions to his alma mater, the University of Maryland Global Campus. Ta.
Instead, Jack Milton got the surprise of a lifetime this week: the graduation ceremony he’s been waiting for for years.
“Fortunately, I’ve done many ceremonies in my life, but this has to be the best,” Milton said. Fox 5 DC.
“I feel like this is the finale of a long journey in education. Again, I keep using the word gratitude, but I can’t think of any other words,” he added.
Milton, 100, came to the University of Maryland Global Campus in the 1960s while serving in the Department of Defense.
At the time, the school was called University of Maryland University College.
Then and now, the school caters to non-traditional college students, including veterans, and offers both in-person and distance learning.
Milton served as a military pilot for 31 years.
He has accumulated more than 12,000 hours of flight time, according to a 2021 article in the University of Maryland Global Campus magazine Achiever.
Milton was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during his Air Force career and flew combat missions in Vietnam.
Milton had enough credits for his Bachelor of Arts degree and was scheduled to perform on stage when he graduated in 1966.
But before that could happen, he was deployed to Vietnam.
He said he was always frustrated that he never officially received his diploma.
“On my way to Southeast Asia, I thought a lot about not being able to meet my graduates,” Milton told Fox 5 DC.
Dr. Gregory Fowler, president of the University of Maryland Global Campus, said it was an honor to present Mr. Milton with his diploma and graduation cap decades later.
“I hereby confer on John L. Milton the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with all rights and privileges associated therewith. Congratulations,” Mr. Fowler said.
After returning from Vietnam, Milton and his wife, Symantha Milton, remained involved in the University of Maryland Global Campus community.
They specifically supported programs for active military and veterans enrolled in the school.
Achiever said the Miltons established the John L. Simantha Milton Scholarship Fund in 2010, which specifically supports the University of Maryland Global Campus Scholarship Fund, which is aimed specifically at volunteers who care for wounded military personnel. .
Fox News Digital has reached out to the University of Maryland Global Campus for additional comment.
