There simply aren't many World War II combat veterans left. The guys who saved us all from a world of Nazi tyranny are dwindling. It's a rare, honored class.

So to be able to see this sort of thing, as late in the game as this, is really something special.

Eighty years after missing his college graduation ceremony, a 101-year-old WWII vet walked the stage and officially received his diploma on Sunday, May 14, in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Like many young men that year, Fred Taylor joined up in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He signed up for the Air Force (he and his friends "wanted to fly rather than be foot soldiers," he said).

He attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, while in reserve for two years before the service activated his group in 1943. He had to miss his graduation ceremony to fly in Italy, beating back fascists as the Allies rolled through Europe.

("I flew the P51 Mustang in Italy," Taylor told Fox News. "And that's a terrific airplane.")

He subsequently got a graduate degree in music from Drake University in Des Moines, eventually becoming a music teacher. He was married for "75-and-a-half-years" to the love of his life, Peggy, who passed away in 2020.

His thoughts, meanwhile, about the students who graduated with him this month?

"They have everything, all the good things, ahead of them. All they have to do is pay attention, do their best work and be kind to others."

Thank you for your service, airman.