KEARNEY, Neb., Nov. 23, 2009 – A $5,000 gift from Joe Duffy’s employer, Tenneco of Cozad, Neb., has pushed a scholarship in memory of his son to the half-way point of being fully endowed.

Justin Duffy gave up his day off to go out with his Army unit to provide a security escort for military leadership in Baghdad. They had done it a hundred times. This time a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee, killing Duffy on June 2, 2009.

The Tenneco gift supports the Sgt. Justin Duffy Memorial Scholarship – a fund that benefits students attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where Duffy graduated in 2000. When it is fully endowed, the scholarship will exist in perpetuity at the University of Nebraska Foundation by awarding scholarships from the interest the fund earns on its principal.

Joe Duffy remembers the day two men in uniform walked up to the Cozad plant to give him the news of his son’s death. “It wasn’t easy,” he said.

Five months later, Joe and his wife Janet finally sat down to watch a video of the military memorial service. The service in Baghdad took place five days after Justin was killed.

“It was heartfelt,” he said. “The chaplain broke down in his talk about Justin. He waited and waited until he could compose himself. You can appreciate what kind of a group these people are. They are in a strange land and they are there to fight and there to protect. It was tough to watch, but we got through it.

“We didn’t realize when Justin was over there – when those guys are over there, they are a family.”

Corporate officials at Tenneco spent little time debating whether or not to support the fund.

“It’s important for Tenneco because we really support our employees and this was an instance that was a tragic situation and we wanted to be there to support our employees as well as the Duffys,” said Chief Davidson, plant manager. Joe Duffy, logistics manager, has worked at the plant that manufactures shock absorbers for nearly 40 years.

Justin worked summers at the plant.

“Justin was a really good kid,” said Jay Edwards, human resources manager at the plant. “He’d work here all day then go work the second shift at Pizza Hut. It was funny – you’d work with him all day then he’d deliver pizza to your house that night. That’s just the way he was. He was a driven kid.”

Devotion to a fallen comrade led Sgt. John Palmer to establish the fund in honor of his Army buddy and fellow member of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division. Nearly 100 gifts have been made to the fund, mostly from family and people who were in Duffy’s company.

“This whole thing has been Sgt. Palmer’s brainchild,” Duffy said. “He was halfway across the world and setting this thing up. Anything we can do to support his baby.”

Duffy wrote directly to Tenneco’s CEO to ask for corporate support.

“They came through,” he said. “Tenneco has been really, really good to us over the years.”

To learn more or to give to the Sgt. Justin Duffy Memorial Scholarship, go to nufoundation.org/justinduffy.

Photos:

1 - Jay Edwards, left, human resources manager, and Chief Davidson, right, plant manager for Tenneco, present a check to Jon Abegglen, vice president of development for the University of Nebraska Foundation.

2 - Joe Duffy, Justin’s father, has worked at Tenneco for nearly 40 years. His direct plea to the company’s CEO netted corporate support for a fund honoring his son.

3 - Justin Duffy was killed June 2, 2009, when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in eastern Baghdad.

4 - Justin Duffy was killed June 2, 2009, when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in eastern Baghdad.

Audio:

1 - “They are a family.”

2 - “Tragic situation.”

The University of Nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization raising private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for more than 70 years. In 2009, the foundation provided the university with more than $102 million in private funding for scholarships, medical research and support for faculty and academic programs. In October of 2009, the foundation announced Unlimited Possibilities: the Campaign for Nebraska, a $1.2 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign—the largest in the university’s history.