By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

RIVERTON, Kan. —  Charles “Buddy” Venturella said Friday that he never imagined he would ever receive his high-school diploma, after putting high school on hold to join the U.S. Navy during World War II.

But Venturella, 83, received his honorary diploma Friday from Riverton High School amid fanfare and speeches. A state program, Operation Recognition, allows military veterans whose lives were interrupted by World War II to receive their diplomas.

Venturella served in the U.S. Navy from May 1943 to February 1946, attaining the rank of Boatswain’s Mate, Second Class.

Paul Sims, Venturella’s pastor at the Galena First Christian Church, said during the ceremony in the high-school auditorium that one of Venturella’s sons told him that his father was unable to graduate because of a prior commitment.

When he announced Friday’s honor to the congregation on Sunday, Sims said Venturella told congregants he was looking forward to going on the senior trip.

“This country is great because of men and women like Buddy,” Sims said.

State Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said he didn’t have adequate words to thank Venturella for his service. Gatewood presented Venturella with a recognition certificate from the Kansas House of Representatives.

State Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Shawnee County, provided some of Venturella’s personal and family history. She said Venturella’s grandfather, Vincenzo, arrived in New Orleans from Italy in 1892. Before joining the Navy, Venturella worked in the lead and zinc mines in Southeast Kansas with his father, Joe.

Schmidt said while Venturella was in the Navy he was stationed at Pearl Harbor, rebuilding the naval base that had been heavily damaged by the Japanese attack in 1941.

After the war, Venturella married, and he and his wife raised two sons. He worked 26 years at EaglePicher in Galena and 16 years at B.F. Goodrich in Miami, Okla.

Schmidt said Venturella accomplished all that without ever owning a credit card, a cell phone or a computer and without a high-school diploma until that day.

“He is an American story,” Schmidt said. “He is the American dream.”

Schmidt presented Venturella with a recognition certificate from the Kansas Senate.