As recently retired Mayor Duehay read their names, each veteran approached the podium escorted by a current CRLS student.
"It's something I should have got the night before I went into the service," said veteran Joseph A. DeLeo, John's DeLeo's brother.
As swing music filled the gymnasium and spry veterans raced to eat cream puffs and chocolate-covered strawberries following the ceremony, DeLeo relished the fact he was a high school graduate at long last.
"Now I finally got my diploma," DeLeo said. "I'm very happy about that."