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Tribute - and a diploma Mail Tribune photos / Jim Craven Delmer Woods of Central Point, who served in the Army from 1943 to 1945, receives congratulations from South Medford High School leadership students after being awarded an honorary high school diploma Friday. Nine men who left school to serve during World War II are honored at a ceremony at South Medford High By DAMIAN MANN World War II veteran Melvin Krebs waited more than a half-century before he finally got his high school diploma. "I wish I would have done it when I got out of the service. I could have been a pharmacist or a doctor," said the 81-year-old Medford resident. In the meantime, Krebs survived a war and did a lot of living before his dream came true. Krebs and five other World War II veterans were given honorary diplomas at South Medford High School Friday. Three other veterans, who couldn't make it to the event, will also receive their diplomas. Leadership students held an assembly and officially gave the veterans - many of them in their late 70s - a sometimes tearful tribute, highlighted by '40s-era music played by the South Medford Jazz Band. Addressing the students, Principal Cynda Rickert said, "They (the veterans) have been very successful in their education - the education of life." This was part of a nationwide effort called "Operation Recognition," initiated by the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services. South Medford was one of 38 schools in the state to participate in the program. Cori Valois, leadership teacher, remembers when Krebs came to South Medford High to find out more about the diploma program after reading a recent newspaper article. "He marched right down the hallway, walking with his cane and with his ventilator," she said. "He came in looking for me." Krebs joined the Navy in 1941. "I had enough schooling in the service to equal two years of college," he remembers. "Unfortunately, they wouldn't recognize it." After leaving the military in 1945, Krebs went into the restaurant business. He is now a retired minister. Freshman class officer Grace Wilkinson said not everyone could make it to the ceremonies. "A gentleman in Portland, who is blind, couldn't come down, so a diploma will be sent to him," she said. Instead, 76-year-old Andrew Mitchell, who went to Medford Senior High School (now South Medford) but never graduated, will receive his diploma through the Oregon Department of Education. Throughout the state, 128 veterans of World War II will receive their honorary diplomas. "They left high school and sacrificed their education to serve their country, so we should recognize them," said Karyn Phillips, executive assistant to state school Superintendent Stan Bunn. While they may have lacked diplomas, the veterans didn't miss a step on their journey through life. "When you're hungry, it's easy to find work," said Norman Svenson of Ashland, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946. Svenson, 78, passed only the eighth grade, which was all that was required when he was a youth. Getting a diploma was always in the back of his mind, but Svenson said, "I was so busy with the job (at a power company), that I didn't have time to worry about it." Despite his education, Svenson has done well. "I like to think that I have done the best I could with what I have," he said. Howard Sparks of Grants Pass always planned to go to college. Instead, he said, "I got married and got a real education." Sparks, 79, made it to his junior year at Silverton High School near Salem, but was so gung-ho to sign up for the military that he fibbed about his age. "I was really only 17," he said. "According to the military records, it says I was 18." Thomas Tams of Medford remembers getting a call from a young lady at South Medford High, informing him that he was eligible for a diploma. He just had to fill out some paperwork and show up for the ceremony. "I wouldn't have missed it," said 75-year-old Tams. He went into the military when he was a sophomore, but later received his general equivalency diploma before going to Southern Oregon Normal School (now Southern Oregon University). His first 20 years out of the military he spent cutting hair, then went into the appliance business and finally ended up working in Jackson County Courts. Tams, who still works as bailiff, has no intention of retiring. "I feel like working as long as they'll have me," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.