Brandon Twp.- Its been more than 60 years since township resident Al Lozano walked out of Western High School of Detroit and into World War II.
In June 1944, Lozano then 18, was drafted just prior to his senior year and was unable to graduate high school. With the encouragement of family members and thanks to Public Act 2001 which provides for Michigan Veterans to receive honorary diplomas Lozano now 80, walked across the stage at Bloomfield Alternative High School June 16 and finished what he started more than six decades ago.
‘I didn’t argue with the draft. They told me, ‘how would you like the Army?? I said, ‘I’d like to be in the Marines better. So they sent me to the Navy,?? laughed Lozano. Finally I got in the Marines. Three outfits in one day.?
From Detroit Lozano was shipped to Parris Island, S.C. then to San Diago.
In October 1944, Lozano left on a ship with about 1,000 Marines to Pearl Harbor in the Pacific then on to Saipan in the Mariana Islands where he joined the 2nd Marine Division.
‘I was the youngest and the smallest on that ship, but I never got sea sick,? said Lozano. ‘We were replacements’not fully equipped with battle gear.?
In Saipan which was occupied by the Americans, the Japanese were still hiding out in the hills and would come into camp where Lozano was staying. ‘All of sudden the Japs were standing in line to get something to eat, or looking to take a shower,? he said. ‘We’d take them prisoner and the camp had to scramble to secure the place.?
In April 1945 Lozano landed in Naha City, Okinawa as part a machine gun company. He along with 2nd Marine Division participated in the battles for the island. Five months later on Aug. 6 the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, three days later, Aug. 9, the second A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered Aug.14, 1945.
On Sept. 23, 1945, Lozano landed in Nagasaki, Japan as part of a force to eradicate any possible resistance and confiscate any weapons that may have remained following the war.
‘The marched us to an airfield outside of Nagasaki after we landed,? said Lozano. ‘You could see the devastation in the distance, everything was flat. They never said anything regarding the possible radiation after the bomb. We marched around the country over the next few months, the people were farmers in that area and never cause us any problem. The war was over.?
Lozano came back to the United States in June 1946 and was discharged in January 1947. He returned to his profession as a photographer at HA Powell Studios in Detroit where he worked for 33 years.
‘I went back to work when I came home,? said Lozano, who married local Marion Schweim in 1948. ‘Why bother with school? I thought. The next thing I knew I got married. So I never finished high school.?
In 1980 he opened, one hour photo, at the Fairlane Town Center Dearborn. Five years later he moved his business to Telegraph Road in where he retired in 1994 before moving to Brandon Township.
Lozano’s daughter Cynthia Dees, a teacher in the Bloomfield Hills district encouraged her father to graduate and supplied him with the application.
Jennifer Woliung community relations manager for Bloomfield Hills Schools said about 50 attended the graduation in the gazebo at Charles L. Bowers Farm in Bloomfield Hills. ‘They gave him a standing ovation when he received his diploma,? said Woliung.
‘We started looking for veterans who could graduate high school in 2002. We send out information in our district news letters to contact us regarding the veterans. A copy of the discharge papers is required to what ever high school the attended.? Woliung said a total of 12 alternative high school students graduated with Lozano who is now one of seven veterans over the past five years to receive their diploma from Bloomfield Hills School.
He and Marion have been married for 58 years they have two daughters Cheryl and Cynthia.