Before his senior year at North Catholic High School in 1943, 17-year-old William L. Bann enlisted in the Navy, answering the call to serve his country during World War II.
Serving from August 1943 to March 1946, Bann was a gunner’s mate on naval ships in the Mediterranean, Pacific and Atlantic war theaters. He was present during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion in Normandy on a support ship.
But Bann never received his high school diploma.
That finally changed on May 22, when North Catholic posthumously granted him an honorary high school degree, which was accepted by his son, Bill Bann, during the school’s graduation ceremony.
“Receiving Dad’s honorary diploma was one of the most meaningful, emotional and powerful moments of my life and for my family,” said Bann, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel.
The honor was part of Operation Recognition, a state program allowing school boards to confer honorary degrees to veterans of the World War II, Korea and Vietnam wars who did not graduate from high school because they entered into military service.
“Attending the graduation also filled me with hope for our nation’s future. Knowing that North Catholic’s young men and women will continue to carry forward the proud traditions of faith, leadership and service to others in our changing world is most reassuring,” said Bann, who graduated from North Catholic in 1968.
USMC Ret. Col. Medio Monti, a member of North Catholic’s Class of 1975, presented Bann with the special military recognition to a standing ovation.
“It moved the entire audience. There wasn’t a dry eye,” said Dr. Zeb Jansante, principal of North Catholic High School.
Jansante, a former Bethel Park principal, also had a military connection. His dad, Valerio, a former record-breaking Steeler from 1946 to 1951, also served in the Navy during World War II. Jansante’s brother served in Vietnam, and his son is an Army captain.
“We recognize the importance of giving back and the call to duty. We all benefit from those who served in the military,” Jansante said.
Ken Balkey, a former North Catholic classmate of the younger Bann, suggested the idea of the honorary degree and was instrumental in getting the process started.
This is the first honorary diploma presented at North Catholic.
“Like 200,000 other teenagers who left high school early to serve our country during World War II, Mr. Bann was too old to return to North (Catholic) and ended up obtaining his high school diploma via General Educational Development equivalency,” Balkey said. “Hopefully, such a story would raise interest to honor others who left school early to serve our country.”
Growing up on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Bann did what many other veterans did after returning from war. He got married (to Jeanne Vaughan), got a job, had a family and lived a relatively quiet life, his son said.
The Banns raised three children, Bill,Kathleen and Lawrence, and were the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Two of their grandsons are lieutenant colonels in the Marines.
William L. Bann was a humble individual, Bill Bann said.
”He was part of that group of guys that didn’t really talk too much about World War II,” he said.
The family found out he served in Normandy when their dad saw a photo at a D-Day 50th anniversary event and casually noted, “That’s my ship there.”
Bill Bann called his dad a “blue-collar guy,” who worked as a pressman for 40 years at the Pittsburgh Press/Post-Gazette and retiring in 1992.
The elder Bann is recognized as a World War II Honoree at the Washington, D.C., World War II monument. The honor was submitted by his grandson, David M. Bann, one of the lieutenant colonels.
William L. Bann, who passed away in 2019 in Shaler at age 93, would have turned 100 this past January.
The younger Bill now lives in Florida. Twenty-five years ago, he was at the Pentagon on 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the building.
Perhaps more school districts will provide the same honor to other war veterans, he said.
“Hopefully, others like my dad, who may have also sacrificed their time at North Catholic to serve our country in time of great need, can be honored in a similar manner,” he said.