An uptight lieutenant from Camp Rockfish stops at Ike’s store and asks for directions to John Walton’s mill. Ike tries to crack some jokes with the man but he is all business and not in the mod for Ike’s quips. The lieutenant makes his way to John’s mill and informs him that until he can prove that he graduated he can no longer do work for the army.
John desperately looks for his diploma all over the house. Erin finds his graduation picture which picks up his spirits as he was beginning to doubt his memory. Olivia discovers though that the school principal never put the paperwork through for their diploma when he left early foe the war.
John is bothered that he didn’t actually graduate and feels that he has to be a better role model for his children. Olivia says that there is a test he can study for to earn his diploma. He agrees to take the test and begins to study. He finds it difficult to concentrate and become frustrated with learning things he doesn’t need to function as an adult or run his business.
John takes the test at the same time as some other students at the school. That evening as Mary Ellen and John arrive back home they are greeted by the rest of the family as they celebrate John’s much delayed 1917 graduation.
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