World War II Vet Picks Up Deployment-Deferred Hillhouse Diploma

Eighty years after officially graduating from what was then called New Haven High School, 98-year-old World War II veteran Paul Panagrosso walked across the stage with Hillhouse’s Class of 2024 on Thursday to receive his diploma. 

Panagrosso was 18 years old when he was called to basic training for World War II in 1944. He was only 10 days away from graduating from Hillhouse’s predecessor, New Haven High School. While he and his unit trained in Florida, his mother collected his diploma for him. 

On Thursday, he joined Hillhouse’s graduating class for a festive ceremony at Bowen Field.

Panagrosso’s son, also named Paul, reached out to Hillhouse High to set up his father’s belated graduation. “[My father] talked often about not making graduation,” he said. Also in attendance on Thursday from Panagrosso’s family were his other children Dawn and Steve; his nieces Mary and Diane; and his grandson Christopher. 

“Unbelievable,” said Panagrosso as New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Madeline Negrón helped him don his blue and white graduation robes. He added: ​“I’m extremely grateful that people remember the old timers.” The biggest differences between now and then? ​“I don’t recognize the neighborhood,” Panagrasso said. Also, ​“the discipline was more in those days. This generation is extremely friendly.”

As a young man, Panagrosso lived on Olive Street. After being captured at the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, he spent nearly six months in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Upon returning home, he said, the first dish he asked his mother to make was pasta e fagioli – ​“macaroni with beans.” 

After his return home, Panagrosso spent most of his working life in retail, at Caldor and at the King Cole in Bridgeport. After a lifetime in Connecticut, Panagrosso moved to Maine a few years ago to be with his son and daughter. ​“He’s got a driver’s license that expires when he’s 101,” said Paul the younger. 

Panagrosso was the first graduate to walk across the stage on Thursday. It felt ​“beautiful” to him to be sharing the day with the students. ​“I’m a lucky man to be here today,” he said.