Schools
86-Year-Old Veteran Finally Gets Diploma From Hoboken High School
Frank Rongo would have graduated from Hoboken's high school (the same one Frank Sinatra attended) in 1951, but left when his dad died.
HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken High School's graduating class had an extra special member this past week when veteran Frank Rongo, 86, finally got his diploma.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla wrote on Facebook:
According to a story in News 12 Saturday, Rongo would have graduated with the class of 1951 but had to drop out earlier to help take care of his mom after his father died.
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Rongo's grandson Robert Bost said he reached out to school officials because, "Every year for the last 29 years, my grandpa here was telling me how much he regretted having to leave high school. He served his country, he worked hard his whole life. He just never had the opportunity to go back and finish it.”
Back then, the local high school was Demarest High School, built in 1911 and turned into a middle school in 1962. Frank Sinatra had attended the same high school in the 1930s, but didn't graduate.
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