WWII vet receives high school diploma

HONOR, Mich. (AP) — An 87-year-old Lake Township man who ended his formal education and enlisted in the Army during World War II last week received his high school diploma.

Berdyll Hanrath was among the 39 graduates of Frankfort High School, according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle ( http://bit.ly/ZvjBsC ). He enlisted in 1943 at the age of 18 after leaving school for good the year
before. Hanrath later took part in the assault on Normandy during the D-Day invasion.

Hanrath was an Army rifleman in the Spearhead Division. He was operating a 50-caliber machine gun on an armored, half-track when a mortar hit killing a dozen soldiers. The driver and Hanrath survived.

Hanrath was treated at a hospital for almost five months with a concussion. When he returned from the war he married, raised four children, and worked in maintenance for the Benzie County School District.