then Add to Home Screen.
The National Guard Educational Foundation recognized 20 individual and corporate donors Nov. 18 during a special reception at the National Guard Memorial, the NGAUS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The 20 honorees contributed a combined $230,000 to the NGEF through its Legion de Lafayette program, which is reserved for gifts of $10,000 or more.
The NGEF preserves and shares all 387 years of the Guard’s story. Among its programs is the National Guard Memorial Museum, which boasts 5,600 square feet of artifacts, images and interactive exhibits.
Several recent benefactors used their donations to honor the service of a loved one.
Among them were Maj. Gen. Jimmie Cole and Danya Cole of Tennessee. Their contribution was in memory of the late retired Sgt. 1st Class Jimmie L. Cole Sr., a Vietnam veteran.
"Throughout his life he demonstrated selfless service and insisted respect was something you earned, not something that was achieved based on position," said Maj. Gen. Cole, the NGAUS vice chair-Army.
"My father was a hard man, but there was never a doubt how much he loved his family and country," he added. "To have him memorialized this evening leaves me speechless."
Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn and Kerry McGinn of Massachusetts honored his grandfather, 1st Lt. Francis M. McGinn, who was killed in action during World War II.
McGinn was also selected by the NGAUS board of directors earlier last Saturday to be the association's next president. He starts next year.
Retired Brig. Gen. John Driscoll and his wife, Merribeth Morin, of Massachusetts, donated in the name of her father, 1st Lt. Louis F. Morin, a 1952 West Point graduate and Korean War veteran.
Brothers George G. Demetriades Jr. and Mathew Demetriades contributed in memory of their father, Capt. George G. Demetriades Sr., a member of the North Carolina Army Guard.
Andy Hove, a member of the NGEF board, donated in honor of three Nebraska National Guardsmen: Hove, Matzke and Wengert.
And NGAUS contributed to the memory of Sgt. 1st Class Collin J. Bowen, a Maryland Army Guard soldier who died in 2008 from wounds suffered in Afghanistan.
There were seven other individual contributions.
They include retired Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, the former adjutant general of Nebraska, and his wife, Kris; retired Brig. Gen. Dave Brubaker, a one-time deputy director of the Air Guard; and retired Maj. Gen. Garry Dean, the president of Peduzzi Associates.
Retired Col. David Kirtley of Mississippi, retired Maj. Gen, Terry L. Scherling of North Dakota, retired Lt. Col. Chris Small, a member of the NGEF board and retired Maj. Gen. Delilah R. Works of Tennessee also made individual donations.
There were additionally seven donations from corporations: Airbus, AM General, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Defense, Stanley Black & Decker and USAA.
"Supporting NGEF helps educate the public about the heritage and contributions the National Guard has made to the United States and honors the memory and achievements of America's citizen-soldiers," said Steve Burns, Airbus' senior business development manager - national capital region.
More information about the LdL program — including a list of more than 300 major donors — is available at www.ngef.org/the-legion-de-lafayette.
— By John Goheen
