In an effort to recognize the men and women whose high school education was interrupted due to military service or by internment in a Japanese American relocation camp, the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and Department of Veterans Affairs offices have partnered to offer Operation Recognition: Veterans Diploma Project. Per the county’s Department of Veterans Affairs Director Bill Moseley, “During the time of war, many men and women left high school in order to serve their country, and lessons of courage and sacrifice became their only curriculum. Through Operation Recognition, San Bernardino County veterans will be granted diplomas as a gesture of our gratitude for their service.” To be eligible for a diploma, recipients must be San Bernardino County resident, and show proof of honorable discharge for military service during World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War. Japanese Americans must show proof of relocation camp internment in the period between December 1941 and December 1946. For consideration in the 2009 Operation Recognition: Veterans Diploma Project ceremony, applications must be submitted by March 27, for the ceremony expected to take place in June. Applications are available online through the Department of Veterans Affairs, or you can call 866/476-8387 for more information. (Posthumous diplomas will also be awarded, should family members submit an application.)
