The Chester County Community Foundation has announced the creation of the West Chester Vietnam Memorial Scholarship Charitable Fund.

The Fund has been established by local Gold Star Families and Vietnam Veterans in memory of the 11 men from the West Chester area who gave their lives for our country in the Vietnam War.

Scholarships will be awarded each year in honor of these individuals and to keep alive the memory of their sacrifice for our country. Family members of one of the first men and the last man from West Chester killed in the Vietnam War – CPL Ernest E. Orendorff Jr. USMC and Specialist 5 Nathanial Matthews – were instrumental in establishing this charitable fund.

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Monies are being raised to fund an endowment for the scholarships. It is the Founders’ goal to raise sufficient funds to be able to award 11 scholarships each year in the name of each of these individuals.

Donations may be made to the West Chester Vietnam Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o CCCF, 28 West Market Street, West Chester, Pa. 19382 or online at www.chescocf.org.

The list of those the scholarship honors, with the dates they were killed in action, is as follows:

• 2LT GENE SMEDLEY McMULLEN, USMC (July 16, 1966)
• CPL ERNEST E. ORENDORFF JR, USMC (Aug. 3, 1966)
• LCPL BLAINE A. De BOARD JR, USMC (Dec. 29, 1966)
• SPEC4 DAVID C. STANLEY, USA (Sept. 14, 1967)
• MAJ LOUIS F. GUILLERMIN, USAF (April 30, 1968)
• LCPL DWIGHT DAWSON JOHNSON, USMC (May 4, 1968)
• SPEC5 PAUL L. COSGRIFF, USA (Oct. 21, 1968)
• PFC THOMAS MICHAEL MARCHAND, USA (June 12, 1969)
• LCPL ELDIN G. BERGER JR, USMC (Oct. 9, 1969)
• 2LT ROBERT W. DONAHUE JR, USA (Nov. 28, 1969)
• SPEC5 NATHANIAL CARL MATTHEWS, USA (Aug. 10, 1971)

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