HOT SPRINGS — Two Hot Springs veterans finally received their long-awaited high school diplomas Monday.
Lonnie L. Tidwell and Vivian Gray Erichsen, both Vietnam War veterans from Hot Springs, received their high school diplomas during a special program at Lakeside Middle School. The diplomas were made possible through the Arkansas Department of Education’s Rules Governing Diplomas for Veterans, which allows military personnel who were called to serve in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War before they were able to graduate to receive honorary high school diplomas.
Any school district may offer an honorary diploma in accordance with the Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing Diplomas for Veterans.
Qualifying veterans must have been honorably dis-
charged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America and be a resident of the state of Arkansas.
An article in the Oct. 16 edition of The Sentinel-Record prompted both veterans to reach out to the school district for this opportunity.
Darin Landry, principal of Lakeside High School, presented the diplomas, along with Superintendent Shawn Cook and School Board members Carla Mouton and Will Maffit.
“It’s the greatest thing to happen to me,” Tidwell, a U.S. Army veteran, told The Sentinel-Record. He said he volunteered for the service before he was able to complete high school.
Erichsen also said it’s wonderful to finally get her diploma.
“I went almost through the 12th grade, and then I went in the Navy,” she said. “I was a dental assistant and after I got out, that’s what I did for a career for 40 years.”