Family of Ben Kopp will get cash grant

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The family of Rosemount High School graduate Benjamin Kopp, will receive a $5,000 from the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund Friday in recognition of his service.

Kopp died July 18, eight days after he was wounded during a firefight in Afghanistan.

The Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund is a nonprofit group that provides cash grants to all soldiers deployed in combat zones, and to the families of soldiers killed in combat. Kopp will be one of eight soldiers recognized at in a Friday ceremony at the state capitol rotunda.

Kopp was assigned to Company C, 3rd Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment where he served as a Rifleman. He received the Army Achievement Medal with two awards, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab. Posthumously, he was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, The Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart.

Kopp continued to help people even in death. He asked that his organs be donated and his heart has already gone to 57-year-old Chicago resident Judy Meikle, a friend of Kopp’s cousin.

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