WWII Veteran Receives Honorary Diploma from Ohio High School

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A 92-year-old World War II veteran is slated to receive an honorary diploma from his Ohio high school after he left early more than seven decades ago to fight in the war.

The Dayton Daily News reports that Charles Benning plans to wear a cap and gown Thursday to accept his diploma from Yellow Springs High School. He will join more than 50 teenage graduates at the ceremony.

Benning served in a unit of black soldiers in the Army. He was a platoon sergeant in an ambulance company that ferried wounded Americans, French and Germans from the battlefields of Normandy and beyond.

Benning's grandson says he approached the school about awarding the diploma, knowing his grandfather regretted not having the opportunity.

(Story by: The Associated Press)