Cape Girardeau native promoted to colonel

Lt. Col. Don R. Hoffmeister, a Cape Girardeau native, has been promoted to colonel by the Tennessee National Guard. He is a 1967 graduate of Central High School. Hoffmeister received a degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1974. He began his military career in 1970 when he enlisted in the Navy. Hoffmeister served aboard the USS Santa Barbara AE-28 during the Vietnam War. He was honorably discharged in 1979. Hoffmeister joined the National Guard in 1979 and in July 1980 was commissioned a second lieutenant. He recently returned from a year of duty in Iraq and was awarded a Bronze Star. Hoffmeister is now stationed in Phoenix serving on Operation Jump Start. The promotion included a pinning ceremony at Phoenix Armory, where his wife Karen, and granddaughter, Lauren, participated. Col. Hoffmeister is the son of Mrs. Eula Hoffmeister of Cape Girardeau. His wife, daughter and son-in-law, Sara and Larry Burch; two grandchildren, Lauren and Harrison Burch, reside in Tennessee.

-- From staff reports