PEABODY — For Ken Cassola, a Beverly native who dropped out of high school at 18 and joined the Air Force in 1968 to work on jet fighters and serve in the Vietnam War, his lifelong dream has been to earn a high school diploma.
Cassola’s daughter, Cindy-Rae Olimpio, shared that he has been a great dad and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, due to his exposure to Agent Orange, in August of 2025. Cassola is now in hospice at the Bedford VA. It was Cindy-Rae’s goal to turn her dad’s birthday, Dec. 19, which is also her mom’s heavenly birthday, into an unforgettable moment this past year.
With guidance from Peabody Public Schools Superintendent Josh Vadala and her husband and Peabody School Committee member John Olimpio, Cindy-Rae set out to ensure her father received a high school diploma. She reached out to Beverly Public Schools Superintendent Peter Cushing, who honored Cassola at a December 2025 Beverly School Committee meeting.
Cindy-Rae was able to present her dad with his diploma on Dec. 19, 2025, and she described the moment as amazing and touching — and she was very content knowing that she was able to “make it happen for him.”
“It just meant so much that we were able to do that for him because I know he’s such a good guy that he deserved it, and he did earn it,” Cindy-Rae said.
Cassola said, “That diploma, it feels like it gives me the right that I can do what I want to do with my fellow servicemen now because we’re all in this together. We put that uniform on, and it’s there for the rest of our lives — and I really, truly mean for the rest of my life. I’ve never been prouder of being American.”
