Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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 to serve his or her country prior to attending high school graduation.
"We are extremely proud and elated that we are able to recognize these fine individuals and it has become a tradition in Bessemer to do so," Niemi said. "Recognizing the veteran graduates who have committed their young lives to the service of our country is our honorable duty and we are happy to oblige."
Tirpik completed his general equivalency diploma requirements while in basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He went on to advanced individual training at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri, before receiving orders to his permanent duty station in Germany as a heavy equipment operator.
Just months later Tirpik was deployed with his visit to Vietnam as a part of the 82nd Airborne Division in 1968. He would serve in Vietnam until June 1969 when he returned stateside with a Purple Heart.
Tirpik was reassigned to Fort Riley, Kansas, and reached the rank of sergeant before he was honorably discharged in January 1970. He exited the service with the Vietnam Service Medal, as well as expert rifle and pistol badges.
Tirpic said he is now a proud father of two grown children and two grandsons. He resides in Bessemer where he is the commander of the Bessemer American Legion Post 27. His father was a World War II veteran and two of his brothers served during the Korean War.
The diploma was presented by Nick Heikkila, the K-12 physical education teacher for Bessemer Area Schools, who is also a veteran. Also presenting was Alex Church, Bessemer class of 2021, who enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 4 and will be reporting to basic combat training as an infantry soldier at Fort Benning, Georgia, in July.
