Legacy person of the quarter

[admin]

COL Ret. Art Lombardi “The Godfather” is our Legacy Person of the Quarter...

Colonel (Ret.) Arthur P. Lombardi was born December 8, 1923 in Canton, Ohio. He entered the army from his home town of Canton in February 1943.

Colonel Lombardi served with the 11th Airborne Division in the Southwest Pacific during WWII. He rapidly advanced through the enlisted ranks and was promoted to First Sergeant at the age of 20 on New Guinea. He received a battlefield commission in March 1945 on Luzon.

After WWII Colonel Lombardi served with the 24th Infantry Division in Japan and was with the first troops committed at the outbreak of the Korean War. Returning to the United States in 1951, he served in various troop level positions, to include the command of two Airborne Field Artillery Batteries. In 1963 he assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery at Fort Campbell, KY.

In 1965, he served 2 tours in Vietnam back to back, one as General Westmorland’s Secretary of the General Staff and the second as the Deputy Senior Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division. In 1968 he assumed command of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps Artillery at Fort Bragg, NC.

Other Key assignments include Post Commander, AFSOUTH, Naples, Italy; the Army General Staff at the Pentagon; and Garrison Commander, Fort Campbell, KY, a position he held for over four years.

Colonel Lombardi is a graduate of the Field Artillery Advanced Course, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College. He holds a degree from the University of Nebraska.

Colonel Lombardi’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Soldiers Medal, Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Vietnamese Distinguished Service Order, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm. He is also a Master Parachutist with two combat jumps. He has been awarded the Gliderist and Combat Infantry badge. Colonel Lombardi served as Honorary Colonel of the 320th Field Artillery Regiment from October 1986 to May 1992.

Since his retirement from the Army, Colonel Lombardi has been very active in the community as well as on Fort Campbell. He serves as Military Advisor for the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce, he is an advisor for the Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union, and serves on the Foundations National Board of Advisors.

Colonel Lombardi is an active member of the Fort Campbell Historical Foundation and continues to support the new museum with guidance from an advisory capacity.

Thank you Colonel Lombardi for your service to our great country and for your support to build the new Wings of Liberty Military museum. It is for you and those who served before and after that will help make this museum a reality.