POULSBO — Not many 82-year-olds can say they walked down the aisle as a fellow graduate with one of their grandchildren. But June 16, Don Weedin will do just that at North Kitsap High School.

Listening to “Pomp and Circumstance” with his granddaughter Mindy as he wears the cap and gown will bring about a day 63 years in the making.

Don, who was born and raised in Manette, dropped out of high school as a sophomore in Bremerton the day after his 17th birthday (Feb. 11, 1942) to enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve in World War II. While he could have joined the day before, his mother, Phyllis Weedin-Milholland, wouldn’t hear of it.

“My grandmother wouldn’t let my dad leave for the Navy on his birthday,” Don’s son Dan Weedin said. “She didn’t let him go to Seattle to join the Navy until the next day. She wanted to make sure they spent his 17th birthday together and had a birthday dinner.”

Dan said he is proud of the sacrifice his father made for his country.

“At 17-years-old he quit school to serve our country,” he said. “He didn’t even think twice about it.”

He still doesn’t, and Don said he does not regret leaving school to fight for his country.

“It was something every man did. Everyone wanted to enlist,” he said. “Everyone wanted to get in because of what happened at Pearl Harbor. It was a different time and atmosphere back then. The patriotism during that time was incredible.”

Don ended up serving in the Navy for 30 years and received his General Education Diploma (GED) in the 1960s, but never his high school diploma.

In 2002, the Washington State Legislature, to honor all men and women who served in WWII and the Korean War, and started “Operation Recognition.” The program provides men and women who dropped out of high school to serve in the Armed Forces the opportunity to attain a high school diploma at either the school they would have graduated from or the nearest school where they currently reside.

For Don, that meant NKHS. But one might say he took the long road getting back to Kitsap County.

Don and his wife Alicia, whom he met in Bogota, Colombia in 1958, eventually moved to Norfolk, Va. and resided on the East Coast from 1962-1969. The couple returned to the Pacific Northwest and lived in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island for 34 years before moving to Poulsbo in 2003 to be closer Dan and his family.

Once rooted in Little Norway, Don said he learned of Operation Recognition and discussed his plan with Mindy.

“I asked her if she would like it if I graduated with her,” he said. “She thought that would be cool idea and we proceeded from there.”

Dan couldn’t be happier that it will happen.

“This is very special to all of us,” he said. “Things have worked out so well. Dad made a commitment to do this. Mindy thought it was a great idea, too. For him to walk with my daughter, that’s pretty cool. It’s going to be wonderful to see them graduate together. It makes it extra special.”

Adding to the specialness of the occasion is the fact the NKSD Supt. Gene Medina was the assistant superintendent at Oak Harbor High School when Dan and his wife Barb graduated in 1983. Medina will be present yet again when Don and Mindy walk down the aisle as graduates June 16.

“Gene will have pretty much seen the whole family graduate from high school except for my mother, and she is from Colombia,” Dan said. “That’s pretty neat. What are the odds of that happening?”

“The North Kitsap School District went out of their way to make this happen,” he added. “Kathy Prasch (principal at NKHS) helped pave the way. Our family is very thankful to her and the school district.”

As for taking to the stage to receive his diploma, Don isn’t worried. Much.

“I am not particularly nervous. The only thing I am concerned about is the heat,” he said. “I am hoping for a 70-degree day and for it to be a little bit overcast.”

Weather aside, Don realizes that having his name announced as a graduate in 2007 will be a unique experience .

“It’s going to be special. It’s going to be a little different than if I graduated in 1944,” he said. “I am happy about graduating with Mindy. It’s a great feeling.”