WWII Veteran, 100, Receives College Diploma 60 Years after Graduation

Milton had earned enough credits for his bachelor of arts diploma, and was planning on walking the stage at graduation in 1966.  - Fox News
Milton had earned enough credits for his bachelor of arts diploma, and was planning on walking the stage at graduation in 1966.  - Fox News
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WWII Veteran, 100, Receives College Diploma 60 Years after Graduation

Milton had earned enough credits for his bachelor of arts diploma, and was planning on walking the stage at graduation in 1966.  - Fox News
Milton had earned enough credits for his bachelor of arts diploma, and was planning on walking the stage at graduation in 1966.  - Fox News

A 100-year-old veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War thought he was going to a celebration for his 100th birthday and to honor his contributions to the University of Maryland Global Campus, his alma mater, Fox News reported.

Instead, Jack Milton this week received the surprise of a lifetime: his long-overdue graduation ceremony.

"I’ve had many ceremonies throughout my life, fortunately, to celebrate many occasions, but this has to be the tops," Milton told Fox 5 DC.

"I feel like this is the final of a long journey in education — and again, I keep using the word appreciative, but I can’t think of any other word," he added.

Milton, 100, enrolled at the University of Maryland Global Campus in the 1960s while he was working at the Pentagon. At the time, the school was called University of Maryland, University College.

Jack Milton, front and center, finally had a graduation ceremony from the University of Maryland Global Campus on Tuesday, April 30. He missed his original ceremony in the 1960s because he was called to serve in Vietnam.

Then, and now, the school caters to non-traditional college students, including veterans, and offers both in-person and distance learning.

Milton was a military pilot for 31 years. He amassed more than 12,000 flying hours, said a 2021 article from Achiever, the University of Maryland Global Campus magazine.

Milton had earned enough credits for his bachelor of arts diploma, and was planning on walking the stage at graduation in 1966.

But before that could happen, he was deployed to Vietnam.

It had always irked him that he never formally received his diploma, he said.

In 2010, the Miltons established the John L. and Symantha Milton Scholarship Fund, which supports another University of Maryland Global Campus scholarship fund specifically for volunteer caregivers of injured military servicemembers, said Achiever.



Many Flights to Indonesia’s Bali Cancelled after Volcano Eruption 

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews smoke and volcanic ash as seen from Kawalelo village in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, June 17, 2025. (Reuters) 
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews smoke and volcanic ash as seen from Kawalelo village in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, June 17, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Many Flights to Indonesia’s Bali Cancelled after Volcano Eruption 

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews smoke and volcanic ash as seen from Kawalelo village in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, June 17, 2025. (Reuters) 
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews smoke and volcanic ash as seen from Kawalelo village in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, June 17, 2025. (Reuters) 

Several flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali were cancelled or delayed and the airport in Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara province was closed due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said on Wednesday.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, which is in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (6.84 miles) high, forcing the country's volcanology agency to raise the alert level to the highest.

It erupted again on Wednesday morning, belching a 1 km (0.62 mile) high ash cloud, the agency said in a statement.

Several international flights from India, Singapore and Australia to Bali were cancelled due to the eruption, the Bali international airport website showed. Singapore Airlines cancelled four flights between Bali's Denpasar airport and Singapore, and its budget subsidiary Scoot cancelled flights to Bali and the neighboring island Lombok, the airlines said.

Qantas' low-cost carrier JetStar cancelled several morning flights to Bali from Australia and expects afternoon flights to be delayed.

"Forecasts show the ash cloud is expected to clear by later tonight," JetStar said in a midday travel bulletin.

The government closed the Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere from Wednesday until Thursday "to ensure the safety of the passengers," said the airport operator AirNav in its Instagram post.

The eruption also forced local authorities to evacuate dozens of residents living in two villages near the volcano, Avi Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency told Reuters.

"Streets in the two villages were filled with thick ash, gravel, and sand," she said, adding no casualties were reported.

The volcano last erupted in May.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.