It was a high school honor that was a long time coming.

Danny Groom, Sr. was an Army veteran, serving for two years, including one of them in Vietnam. He was drafted while still in high school at the age of 19 and went to serve his country.

Since he was drafted before finishing out his high school years at Oakdale High School, Groom never got the chance to obtain the credits needed to receive his diploma. After returning home from serving, he tried to go back and finish out the classes so he could officially complete high school, but was unable to get the required classes in the areas he needed. Groom then tried to further his education with college courses, but at the time found it not financially possible.

Through it all, his wife Lilly was by his side. They met while they both attended Oakdale High School and got married when Danny Groom returned from the service; they were married for 53 years.

They both grew up in Oakdale and raised their kids in the area as well.

Lilly put in 15 years as a teacher for House of Tykes in Oakdale and retired 10 years ago.

In October of 2021, they moved from California to Texas and began to have complications while trying to obtain a Texas driver’s license for Danny, since he did not have his birth certificate. While contacting a variety of agencies in hopes of finding a copy, they were given a phone number to try and call to see if that company had it. After calling that number, Lilly said, they were told that company did not do birth certificates, instead they did high school diplomas for veterans who were drafted before finishing the credits needed to graduate.

“We thought the number was for his birth certificate, we didn’t even know it was possible for him to get his diploma, that is just how God works,” Lilly said.

The agency allows veterans to apply to see if they would qualify to get their missing credits waived and possibly receive their high school diploma.

Danny applied and was told in about two to three weeks they would be contacted if he was accepted or not. But months went by without any word from the agency, and Danny, sadly, passed away earlier this year from cardiac arrest.

It was about a month ago, however, that Lilly received Danny’s high school diploma in the mail; his application had been approved and the diploma awarded.

After contacting the staff at Oakdale High School and relating the story, they told Lilly that they would honor him by allowing Lilly and Danny’s grandson, Noah Groom, a 2022 OHS graduate to carry both his own and his grandfather’s diploma with him as he crossed the stage during graduation ceremonies at The Corral.

“Every step I take there will be one step for me and one step for my grandfather,” Noah Groom expressed.

“The most important thing that I really want to stress is; no matter what your age is, you can always go get that diploma,” Lilly added.