Vietnam Vet Gets High School Diploma

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas - At R.L. Turner High School's annual veteran's day program in Farmers Branch on Wednesday, servicemen stood up and were recognized for their service and sacrifice for their country.

But Dan Burns stood up to get something denied him in 1964 because he went off to war in Vietnam: His sheepskin.

"I lost a lot of friends," said Burns.

Burns finally got to toss the tassel from one side of his graduation cap to the other. It meant the world to him.

"I never thought this would happen," he said.

For his wife, Nancy, the event was an emotional one.

"Oh I'm very proud. I think it's wonderful. And I was very proud of him. In fact, I cried," she said.

In his senior year of high school, Burns was drafted and went through basic training. He survived one tour of Vietnam, got his GED and began teaching high school.

Burns benefited from a provision in the Texas Education Code allowing a district to give a diploma to a person who was honorably discharged from the armed forces and scheduled to graduate high school from 1940 until 1975.

"It's been a long time", he laughed.