The National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF) welcomed retired Brig. Gen. Kenneth L. Ross, NGAUS treasurer, and SK Graphics Inc., a Cincinnati printing firm owned by retired Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Koper, NGAUS president, to the Eegion de Lafayette late last year.

The Legion includes more 170 individuals, organizations and corporations that have donated at least $10,000 to the NGEF, which operates The National Guard Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and other public education programs.

It's named after Marquis de Lafayette, a French citizen who fought with colonial soldiers in the American Revolution and later helped bestow the name "National Guard" on the U.S. militia after his own corps, the Garde Nationale de Paris.

The NGEF plans to honor at least three new Legion members at the 129th NGAUS General Conference and Exhibition, Aug. 24 to 27, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Above Retired Brig. Gen. Kenneth L. Ross (right) a new Legion de Lafayette member, and NGAUS Chairman Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger (center) join retired Brig. Gen. William Spruance, a founder of the Delaware Air National Guard and the NGEF's largest individual financial contributor. Below Retired Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Koper, NGAUS president and new Legion member, poses with General Umbarger.

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