Air Guard Scholarships
Help keep our heritage alive!
The Eva Hope and Brig Gen Ray Miller was originally founded by Eva Hope Miller to honor her husband, Brig Gen Ray Miller the first commander of the Minnesota Air National Guard. Mrs. Miller knew the importance of education and set aside in her will $100,000 as a scholarship fund for members of the Minnesota Air National Guard. Brig Gen Miller represents the foundation of our unit and a direct link to our heritage dating back to World War I.
In addition to the Millers, the family of Lt Col Richard Wiessner has donated to this scholarship fund to keep the memory of these two great aviators alive.
Lt Col Wiessner represents the heroic efforts of airmen during World War II. Lt Col Wiessner flew 82 combat missions in Africa, Italy and Germany in a P-47 fighter. He continued his military career with the Minnesota Air National Guard that included being the 109th Squadron commander.
With these two patriots, we are able to keep the two scholarships and the memory of these great individuals alive. Each scholarship will be awarded to an individual in the name of his/her school.
To honor the scholarship individuals, Ruth Welsh is donating her book The Real World War as a thank you to the winners. Ruth spent hours collecting information from casual conversation with Richard, reading personal letters from family members to Richard and verifying facts using newspaper articles. The book captures a fast-moving story of death-defying combat illustrating what war was really like.