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WWII Vet Gets Honorary Degree From Regis University

DENVER (AP) — A World War II Bronze Star veteran who was sent to Europe before he could graduate from college now has an honorary degree from Denver's Regis University.

Sidney Shafner (3)
(credit: Regis University)

Ninety-three-year-old Sidney Shafner insisted on wearing a cap and gown for the ceremony at the school Sunday.

The Philadelphia native and others selected for the Army Specialized Training Corps were brought to Regis to study engineering. They were called into duty in March 1944 as the United States gathered all available men for the coming intervention in Europe.

Sidney Shafner (4)
(credit: Regis University)

Shafner's unit, the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division, is one of two that helped liberate the Dachau (DAH'-khow) concentration camp. Its soldiers adopted two orphaned boys from the camp that Shafner met, giving them jobs as cooks until the end of the war.

LINK: Oral history interview with Sid Shafner

Sidney Shafner (1)
(credit: Regis University)

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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