Note: This article was originally published on July 21, 2005. We’re re-posting it now for our tribute to Colorado’s Fallen.
When Rollie Page and other war veterans went to a memorial service in January for Army Capt. Russell Rippetoe, they did so out of respect for a fallen fellow soldier.
But then they heard the personal stories about the young man from family and friends who attended the service at Broomfield High School.
They decided then and there to get his name added to the Veterans of Foreign Wars-Broomfield Post so his legacy could live on.
“He was a very courageous person who put his life on the line,” said Page, of Westminster.
Page helped plan a ceremony for Wednesday evening at the VFW-Broomfield Post to see “Captain Russell B. Rippetoe AMVETS Post No. 6” added to the name on the VFW Post building at 11700 Wadsworth Blvd.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsored the event, Page said.
Rippetoe, 27, was raised in Arvada and Broomfield. He served as an Army Ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment based in Fort Benning, Ga.
He died April 4, 2003, when a suicide bombing destroyed the Iraqi checkpoint where he and two others were positioned.
“He was an awesome, awesome person,” said Becky Tuccio, a family friend who said her grandson was named after him. Rippetoe and her son Brent were so close that Rippetoe went with them on family vacations.
He has been described by family as an uncle who loved to wrestle with a school-age niece and a biker with a taste for Harley-Davidsons.
He joined the ROTC at the University of Colorado at Boulder while attending Metropolitan State College in Denver. As a Ranger, he was trained to work with infantry units and to call in artillery fire and airstrikes.
A Denver service in May 2003 at St. John’s Cathedral was attended by Gov. Bill Owens and hundreds of others. Rippetoe was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
