The Children (NAPSA)—Today’s career-ori- ented military means morefallen service members will leave behind a spouse and children—like Gun- nery Sergeant Joseph Menusa who served in the Marine Corps for 14 years, saw action in the Gulf War and left behind a wife and three- year-old son. . 7.4 FALLEN HEROES LAST WISH FOUNDATION The Fallen Heroes Last Wish Foundation is leading the way in providing additional money to fam- ilies of fallen service members to supplement military death bene- fits. It was founded by Dan O’Dowd, the father of two sons and CEO of Green Hills Software, because he believes that “the last wish of any parent whofalls on the battlefield is not for a medal or a parade,it is: please take care of my children.” “The U.S. government provides a one-time $6,000 payment, $948 per month stipend and optional $250,000 life insurance policy paid over three years, but this is not enough,” said O’Dowd, who started the Foundation with a personal contribution of $100,000, and he’s paying all overhead costs. The Founda- tion is giving 100 percent of the donated funds to the children ofser- vice members who died in Opera- tion Iraqi Freedom, with a mini- mum goal of $5,000 per child. Donations in any amount are appreciated and O’Dowd will match all contributions until the first $500,000 is raised. For more information on the Fallen Heroes Last Wish Foundation, visit www.lastwishfound ation.org.
