Bridge of sacrifice: Dedication honors Libby veteran's service during Vietnam War

Yahoo

26-05-2025

May 26—Sitting under the pavilion at Libby's Riverfront Park, Patty Rambo shuffles through dozens of letters written in support of her late brother, Staff Sgt. Arthur J. Rambo.
One recalls "the brief honor of meeting Art Rambo," a man described as having "intellect and [a] dynamic personality." Memories of living on "The Rambo Tracts" in Libby and moments spent on the baseball field when Art was a kid are part of the letters.
It's reminiscent of the legacy and impact he had on people, Patty said.
In the early hours of Thanksgiving Day in 1969, Rambo's squadron command post suddenly came under an intense mortar attack in Vietnam. He was fatally injured in an attempt to protect his squadron. He was 24.
This year, 56 years after he was killed and 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, the bridge spanning the Kootenai River on Montana 37 has officially been named the Staff Sergeant Arthur J Rambo Memorial Bridge. A dedication ceremony was held on Sunday.
"I will not let a Memorial Day or Veterans Day pass without telling people what that means," Patty said while sitting in the park with the bridge behind her.
Art grew up on a ranch south of Libby with his parents, older sister Kathleen and younger sister and brother Patty and Dan. He graduated from Libby High School in 1963 and attended Carroll College in Helena, earning a mathematics degree in 1967. He married his wife, Helen, in 1967 and earned an engineering degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1968. Shortly after, their first daughter Kerry was born.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army later that year.
After 11 months of service, through basic and advanced training and artillery combat leadership courses, Art was promoted to staff sergeant, an accomplishment Patty said was rare.
"Only 1% of the 1% rise through the ranks as quickly as Artie did," she said.
He was sent to Vietnam in August of 1969 as a section chief of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, also known as the legendary Blackhorse Regiment.
Just three months later and three weeks shy of his 25th birthday, Art was killed in combat. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation. Surviving him were his wife and daughters Kerry and Amy, who were under two years old.
The effort to memorialize Rambo's sacrifice began with the Libby Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1548, said Sen. Mike Cuffe, the Lincoln County legislator who carried Senate Bill 59 that called for the bridge to be named in Rambo's honor.
On Jan. 16, Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law, the first of the session.
"It's touching, it's a combination of being very deeply touching and exciting," Cuffe said. "And that is very much evident in the letters, emails and notes that came from other people in Libby, many of whom knew Art Rambo, many who knew about him, and then from folks who didn't know him."
It was a testament to a community coming together, he said.
"There were not very many things to smile about this session, and to start the session with this bill ... it brought a bright moment to the first few days," he said.
But it is more than a feel-good bill, Patty said.
"This is my brother," she said, explaining her drive to make sure the dedication was done with respect and dignity.
Growing up, Patty recalled the house being full of music. From her parents on the piano and the guitar to Art singing "Little Joe the Wrangler" alongside them, life with her siblings was pleasant until 1969.
After Art died, there was no more music in the house, Patty said.
It's representative of the heartbreak that many families experienced during the war, she reflected.
Former Montana governor Marc Racicot, a Libby native and friend of Art's in school, remembered the frenzy associated with young men leaving and returning from the war.
After he heard the news of Art's death, Racicot went to mass and wrote a poem on a piece of school paper.
"What he leaves us is a piece of himself, a family graced with his presence, a world awed by his touch, and a friend adorned with his friendship," he wrote. "These things shall never die. And because they are him, he lives forever within us."
While the dedication of the bridge remembers Art, Racicot said, it is also a tribute to all those impacted by the Vietnam War. Patty echoed the sentiment, stating that freedom is never free.
"And now, I shall live as he lived," Racicot wrote. "What greater tribute could we pay him?"
Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [e-mail].
Patty Rambo, younger sister to Staff Sergeant Arthur J Rambo, stands in front of the bridge newly dedicated to her brother's memorial. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Photos of Staff Sergeant Arthur J Rambo, a Libby native who was killed during the Vietnam War. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Patty Rambo, younger sister to Staff Sergeant Arthur J Rambo, stands in front of the bridge newly dedicated to her brother's memorial. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Photos of Staff Sergeant Arthur J Rambo, a Libby native who was killed during the Vietnam War. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)