A Vietnam War Veteran from Milan will be honored Dec. 9. The Rock Island School Board will award Thomas Hickson his 1968 high school diploma.
Hickson says he left high school when he was seventeen to join the Navy.
In 1972, Hickson was honorably discharged from the Navy. When he returned to the Quad Cities, he earned his GED and became a police officer in Milan.
Now, he's retired and living near his family. He says he's honored to receive a diploma from the Rock Island-Milan School Board, and encourages other school boards to honor veterans in the same way.
Hickson will receive his diploma Tuesday at the Rock Island High School Library, at 5:30 pm.