The music played as the graduates from Long Island City HS stepped up to the stage to receive their diplomas. Among the many excited graduates at the beginning of their journey into adulthood was one new graduate with a far more poignant story to tell.

“I feel so much joy and happiness, I can’t even say it,” said Ralph Laucella of his high school graduation, held on June 26 at Queens College. “I’ve had so many tears in my eyes waiting for this day. I’m 86 years old.”

Laucella was called into military service just before what would have been his high school graduation. He proudly served his country at Pearl Harbor during World War II and then again during the Korean War. When he returned from the Korean War, he worked to help support his mother, father and younger brother.

“I never had the choice, I worked hard all my life,” Laucella said. But one thing he always regretted was that he had not received a high school diploma.

Laucella would later marry and, with his wife, raise five children, at one point working three jobs a day with just three hours of sleep a night in order to support them. He instilled in his children the importance of education.

“He always wanted us to finish school, and said, ‘Don’t let anything stop you,’” recalled his daughter Elizabeth.

She mentioned her dad’s situation to a friend in the military, who told her that her father could, in fact, graduate and advised her to call the local high school that he had left so many decades ago.

As luck would have it, Long Island City HS is the school of teacher John Garvey, a Gulf War veteran and the chairman of the UFT Veterans Committee. Garvey is quite familiar with Operation Recognition, which enables New York State veterans who left high school without graduating to receive their diplomas.

“We’ve done about 30 of these diplomas in this school,” Garvey said.  “We verify that they have an honorable discharge and then arrange for it.”

 What made this graduation even more special is that Laucella is graduating alongside his 18-year-old great-niece Amanda Nero.

Nineteen members of this close-knit family, including 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, hailing from New York, Virginia and Texas, came to celebrate and honor the occasion.

His great-niece Amanda called it an honor to share the stage with him. “He’s such an inspiration to me,” she said. “I’m very thankful that he sacrificed to serve this country instead of graduating, so he could protect the freedoms we all have today.” 

She plans to follow in his footsteps — and those of her two grandfathers as well — by serving in the military. She will be entering York College ROTC in September.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Amanda’s mother Elizabeth of the dual graduation. “Everyone’s very proud and happy.”

Image

Miller Photography