Veteran receives honorary diploma
June 4, 2021

Tom LaVenture / Daily Globe Nick Heikkila, left, the K-12 physical education teacher and a veteran, and Alex Church, a recent enlistee in the U.S. Army, present an honorary diploma to Charles Tirpik, a Bessemer resident who forwent the remainder of his senior year of high school in 1967 to enlist in the U.S. Army with service in Vietnam.
BESSEMER - There was a senior among seniors at the A.D. Johnston High School commencement exercise this past Friday in Bessemer.
Bessemer Area School District presented an honorary diploma to Charles Tirpik, a Bessemer resident who forwent the remainder of his senior year of high school in 1967 to enlist in the U.S. Army.
This is the second consecutive year that Bessemer Area Schools has honored a veteran who left high school before they were able to get their diploma, said Daniel Niemi, superintendent and grade 7-12 principal. It will be an ongoing tradition to honor a veteran who went...
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