A Whittier native whose efforts to honor Vietnam War veterans spread coast-to-coast was presented with his own high school diploma on Friday.
Jose G. Ramos, founder of Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, attended Garfield High School’s graduation ceremony and received the long-awaited honor.
Ramos was a medic with the 101st Airborne Division and served in Phan Tiet, Vietnam from October 1967 to October 1968.
“Veterans never forget those who helped,” said Alfred Lugo, a spokesman with the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Committee, in a news release. “Medics put themselves in harm’s way to save their fellow soldiers’ lives. A medic will never leave a man behind.”