FRANKFORT, Ky. — Leroy F. Spaulding joined the Army in 1941, expecting his hitch to be only a short detour from finishing high school. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed those plans dramatically.

Leroy Spaulding holds the Purple Heart. Officials are considering legislation to give Mr. Spaulding his high school diploma. (Associated Press photo) | ZOOM |

        What started as a yearlong enlistment lasted four years, two months. When his chums in Frankfort graduated in 1943, Mr. Spaulding was soon to storm the beaches of Sicily under German fire.

        Back home after the war, Mr. Spaulding went to work, got married, raised a family and worked at a distillery until his retirement. But there was a nagging regret.

        “I'd wished that I had gone through and finished up school,” said Mr. Spaulding, now 79. “That's one of the things that seemed like an empty space, by not finishing up.”

        Now, the Kentucky General Assembly is considering legislation to give Mr. Spaulding and veterans like him the high school diplomas they never received.

        School boards would be directed to award high school diplomas to honorably discharged veterans of World War II who left school to fight for their country, then never finished their schooling. The bill passed the House by a 95-0 vote and is awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee.

        “It's a way we can recognize a great generation and what they did for us, by providing a diploma that they didn't have a chance to earn,” said Les Beavers, commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

        Kentucky contributed 312,000 of its men and women to the military during World War II, Mr. Beavers said. Fewer than a quarter are still living; their average age is 78 1/2. Mr. Beavers said he did not know how many of those without high school diplomas remain.

        The state Education Department said it is willing to assist schools in awarding the diplomas if the bill becomes law.

        “We support any effort to recognize the sacrifices of veterans who were called to service for this country,” said department spokeswoman Lisa Gross. “We will work with school districts, if needed, to develop guidelines and procedures.”

        Rep. Jim Bruce said other states have awarded diplomas to World War II veterans whose high school days ended prematurely. Mr. Bruce, the bill's lead sponsor, said it would be a nice gesture for Kentucky veterans.

        A Democrat from Hopkinsville, Mr. Bruce was a high school freshman in Tennessee when the United States entered World War II.

        “I remember the seniors enlisted on Dec. 8 and 9,” said Mr. Bruce, the longest-serving member of the General Assembly. “They went in as kids and came out as men. They couldn't see going back to school with kids.”

        Mr. Spaulding didn't wait until Pearl Harbor. He was a sophomore when he and a friend volunteered for the Army in April 1941. Both figured they would have to serve in the military at some point, so they decided to get it over with and return to school after a year. Pearl Harbor followed eight months later, and Mr. Spaulding didn't get out of the Army until June 1945.

        Mr. Spaulding's role as a front- lines radio operator kept him in harm's way. His job was to identify targets for artillery bombardment, then radio the coordinates. Targets sometimes were within a few hundred yards of his own position. “We were the eyes for the artillery,” Mr. Spaulding said.

        Mr. Spaulding, a sergeant, said he watched comrades die on the battlefield.

        Back home, Mr. Spaulding said he would have felt out of place in a classroom with teen-agers.

        “I feel like even though I missed that part of it — missing school — I've done pretty good,” he said.

        After all these years, however, Mr. Spaulding said he would gladly accept the diploma. “I'd frame it and put it on the wall,” he said.

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