Veteran graduates high school 67 years later

The judge’s ultimatum came 67 years ago: enlist in the military or face juvenile detention for repeatedly skipping classes at San Diego High School.Norm Johnson gladly joined the U.S. Air Force in April of 1950. Even after he was deployed...

EDUCATION
08 February 2017 Wednesday 17:06

Veteran graduates high school 67 years later

The judge’s ultimatum came 67 years ago: enlist in the military or face juvenile detention for repeatedly skipping classes at San Diego High School.

Norm Johnson gladly joined the U.S. Air Force in April of 1950. Even after he was deployed to Asia to fight the Korean War, Johnson was sure he wouldn’t miss San Diego or the Grey Castle — save for the sports and judo lessons, which the slight 17-year-old took at his father’s urging.

The ensuing decades were a blur of unbelievable jobs and encounters with dignitaries and celebrities — bodyguard to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, backup dancer to Elvis Presley in “Jailhouse Rock,” and racing cars with James Dean, among them — which Johnson chalks up to smarts, luck and timing.

After amassing personal experiences — some documented with photos and records, others with colorful stories — that could rival Forrest Gump’s, Johnson will receive what he describes as an important accolade Wednesday when he gets an honorary diploma from the San Diego County Office of Education and Operation Recognition Veterans Diploma Project.

Why after all those years, all those experiences, does that sheepskin matter to Johnson?

“I was surprised that it actually does matter to me this much. But it does,” said Johnson, 83. “It will legitimize my life.”

Nearly 70 years after he bolted from San Diego High (the grand old campus dubbed the Grey Castle has long been demolished) Johnson is set to receive a diploma from the San Diego County school board during a makeshift commencement ceremony.

“This program was designed to honor people whose education was disrupted by war. This really shows you how important that high school diploma is to people,” said Nicole Shina , who oversees Operation Recognition for the County Office of Education. “Norm is a perfect example, he led this colorful life — not everyone can say they met James Dean and Elvis Presley — but this still means so much to him.”

A colorful life indeed.

While stationed in Tokyo, Johnson said he was assigned as one of 16 elite bodyguards to MacArthur after a colonel learned of his black belts. He was hired as a dancer in Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” after winning local swing dancing competitions.

“He would speak to us, but nothing personal,” Johnson said of the five-star general who was ultimately fired by President Harry Truman. “We were like Secret Service, hidden in a crowd because he wanted to be seen. He felt Japanese people needed to know Gen. MacArthur was not afraid.”

Both Presley and Dean were “cool,” Johnson said. “Elvis liked to talk about judo. We talked a lot.”

Johnson went on to study journalism at San Diego Junior College, now San Diego City College, before getting a job covering sports for the Alhambra Post-Advocate in Los Angeles County. He won a Copley Journalism Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his accidental coverage of the Watts riot after giving a friend from the Los Angeles Police Department a ride “to a developing disturbance” from Dodger Stadium.

“We got there and a crowd was surrounding this telephone booth, where a reporter from UPI was trying to call in a story,” Johnson said. “I was getting glass removed from my face when I called in my story from a gurney.” He still remembers the opening line of the piece: “I drove through hell last night.”

Johnson said he’s met three U.S. presidents and a host of other notables. He’s got photos of himself with President Jimmy Carter, British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, and Cassius Clay before he changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

A retired newspaper writer and PR man living in Las Vegas, Johnson has visited San Diego from time to time. He attended the 50th reunion for the San Diego High class of 1951, recognizing just one former classmate at the gathering.

Honorary or not, Johnson is proud to get his diploma.

Operation Recognition results from a partnership between the county’s Superintendent of Schools and Department of Veteran Affairs.

Three years ago, an emotional Yoshiko Golden received a diploma from the county school board more than 70 years after the U.S. government sent her and her family to a Japanese internment camp.