The Palm Springs Air Museum received a $500,000 present Saturday for its 13th anniversary.

The legacy donation, made by museum board Chairman Fred Noble, was offered during a celebration that featured flight demonstrations, food vendors, children's activities and a birthday cake.

“I want to be sure that future generations understand the sacrifices made by our greatest generation,” Noble said.

His donation will be used “to continue the educational mission of the museum,” museum Director Sharon Maguire said Saturday.

The donation will also fund school field trips and improvements to the children's aviation science area, she said.

“I am so pleased that he has so much confidence in the future of this museum to make this type of commitment,” she said of Noble.

Noble is the semi-retired owner of Wintec Energy, a Palm Springs-based wind energy company. He has been museum board president for a year.

Noble said he also made the personal donation to honor those who served in World War II, which “is the most significant event since the Magna Carta,” he said.

“This museum is full of volunteers who bled for the United States, so what I am doing for the museum is precious little compared to what they have done,” he said.

Museum docent Edward Price, 87, said the donation was “a great thing to do.”

The Cathedral City man, who has been a museum docent for five years, was a second lieutenant in the Fifth Air Force for the U.S. Army Air Corps based in Papua New Guinea during World War II.

“Not a lot of youth know what happened in World War II, and I hope this helps them learn about it,” Price said.