World War II veteran and Battle of Midway survivor, Mr. Joe Sanes, from Illinois became an honorary graduate of Recruit Training Command at Naval Station Great Lakes, more than 70 years after enlisting in the Navy.

Sanes enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 14, 1941, and attended boot camp at Great Lakes. However, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, four weeks into boot camp, Sanes was immediately assigned to the destroyer USS Hammann and He never graduated.

During the Pass-In-Review recruit graduation ceremony, Capt. John Dye, commanding officer of RTC, recognized Sanes' service, presented him with an honorary graduation certificate and designated him an honor graduate of the PIR.

During the ceremony, nine divisions comprised of over 700 sailors, graduated from RTC, the Navy's only boot camp. The ceremony was attended by more than 1,500 friends and family, including Libby Sanes, Joe's wife of 65 years.

Joe was aboard Hammann during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Hammann helped rescue more than 500 Sailors from the crippled USS Lexington. On June 6, 1942 during the battle of Midway, Hammann was assisting USS Yorktown recovery after the carrier had been damaged during the battle. While participating in a defensive screen of Yorktown, Hammann was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine and sank in less than four minutes. Seventy-nine enlisted crew members died along with 10 of the 14 officers. Joe was one of the lucky ones.

He also took part in the Solomon Islands Campaign, the Aleutian Islands Campaign, and the Mariana Islands Campaign, before receiving an honorable discharge on Nov. 14, 1947.