Seafaring Forefathers Inspired 100th Donation In National Coast Guard Museum Fundraiser

By Ellyn Santiago

Think Captains Courageous.

A fishing vessel out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine in 1918 with Donald Kimball’s grandfather Albert at the helm and his father in the crows nest on the lookout for cod: “Get up in that rigging and find us some fish, son!”

It was this story and the memories that came pouring like a wave crashing on shore that inspired Kimball, of Stonington, to be the 100th donor of $1,000 to the National Coast Guard Museum planned for New London.

“My great grandfather sailed and fished, my grandfather and father after,” the 85-year-old Kimball explained.

“I was 17 when World War II came all my cousins had joined the navy. Not me. I went to the Coast Guard. Those years were some of my best,” the elderly but active Kimball said as he pointed out paintings of sea vessels and portraits of his ship captain grandfather on the walls of his Cove Road home.

“I made this donation to the Coast Guard in memory of my grandfather and because of what the Coast Guard meant to me,” he said.

Kimball will be honored, along with the other First 100 contributors, with a bronze plaque inscribed with his name and placed at the entrance to the new museum. The museum association achieved its initial goal of raising $100,000 less than 15 days into a 100-day local fundraising campaign called the “First 100,” which was launched on June 1.

“I wanted to be the 100th, in memory of my grandfather. He would be honored, I think,” Kimball said his quivering voice betraying his stoic posture.

The Museum, planned for downtown New London, is being designed as a tribute to those who have served in the Coast Guard, like Kimball, over the past 223 years. 

For more information or to make a donation, the public may contact the National Coast Guard Museum Association at 860.443.4200 or visit www.coastguardmuseum.org.