Legionnaire receives college diploma 68 years later
Lt. Haraz Ghanbari escorts World War II veteran Bob Barger across the graduation stage at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Photo by Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press

Legionnaire receives college diploma 68 years later

World War II veteran Bob Barger has a new picture to hang on his wall – his college diploma.

It’s been 68 years since the 96-year-old Legionnaire has stepped foot in a classroom at the University of Toledo in Ohio. However, fellow Legionnaire and friend Lt. Haraz Ghanbari helped make it possible for Barger to walk across the stage at the university’s commencement ceremony last Saturday to receive his degree in front of a large audience who gave him two standing ovations.

“I’m going to be proud to hang that diploma on the wall and think about the friends behind it,” said Barger, a U.S. Navy veteran and 65-year member of American Legion Post 335 in Toledo, to The Associated Press. “I found out without friends, this old world wouldn’t be worth living in. Friends make it livable. And family.”

Ghanbari, University of Toledo’s director of military and veteran affairs, sat next to Barger during the commencement ceremony and escorted him across the graduation stage. He said it “was by far one of the highlights of my Navy career to be able to be there with Bob. It’s about really bridging that generational gap between veterans of previous generations and veterans of my generation. World War II veterans are pretty special.”

The friendship between Barger and Ghanbari began in May of 2013, when Ghanbari sought out a World War II veteran to officiate his promotion to Navy lieutenant. His late grandfather, Leonard Howard Robinson, was a World War II Navy veteran and Legionnaire so having “Barger promote me was one small way to include someone of my grandpa’s generation,” he said. Ghanbari has possession of his grandfather’s Legion cap.

Barger was recommended to Ghanbari and within a week of making the phone call to ask for his assistance, Barger was pinning Ghanbari during his ceremony at the University of Toledo. During that time, Barger even recruited Ghanbari to join his Legion post. “At the time (Barger) was 91 years old, and he was still out there recruiting people for the Legion,” Ghanbari said. After the ceremony, Ghanbari invited Barger over to his house for dinner. It was there that he asked Barger where he went to school and learned that he never finished college at the University of Toledo because he needed a job to care for his wife and children. This prompted Ghanbari to have his transcripts pulled from the university’s archives.

The transcripts showed that Barger had completed 83 credit hours during his enrollment from 1947-1950. It wasn’t enough for a bachelor’s degree; however, it was more than enough to earn the university’s newly-established associates degree in technical studies. When Ghanbari learned of this, he and another student veteran drove to the assisted living center where Barger lives. They had University of Toledo enrollment and graduation papers in hand to have Barger sign.

“I thought I would never be able to accomplish this degree,” said Barger, according to the University of Toledo. “My grandson graduated from UT, and he no longer can say he is one up on me. I have a degree, too, just took me a while!”

The university’s Student Veterans of America chapter purchased the cap and gown for Barger and Ghanbari had a student ID made for him that “he likes to wear around the retirement community,” Ghanbari said. “Bob earned this degree. Hopefully Bob’s story will serve as an inspiration for other that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams and aspirations regardless of what age you are.”

Ghanbari, his wife and two children (Madison, 5, and Jackson, 3) had brunch with Barger on Sunday at the assisted living center to celebrate Ghanbari’s 37th birthday. Ghanbari said the center is planning a graduation party for Barger and that the residents keep telling him, “You’re a celebrity, Bob. Congratulations!”

With diploma in hand, Barger will continue to do what he loves which is play golf with members from Post 335 and to teach others how to do so as well. The assisted living center has a putting green and following brunch Barger was teaching young Jackson how to putt.

“Just the fact that my son was able to spend time with Bob was pretty special,” Ghanbari said. “This has all served as a reminder that there’s a cause much bigger than my own.”