NFL Quarterback Helps Promote Lambert USO at Least Two Ranks

A privately funded $300,000 renovation of the USO facility at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is dovetailing nicely with other airport-backed improvements being made throughout the main terminal.

"It's one of the jewels of the airport," notes airport director Richard Hrabko. "We're very proud of it. With Fort Leonard nearby, we get more than 100,000 military personnel passing through each year. We needed better facilities for them." 

Since the recent renovation and expansion, The James S. McDonnel USO is much more than a place for free munchies and soft drinks. The new facilities feature a larger sleeping room with beds, a high-tech cyber café, a new gaming area, an expanded media room, a remodeled canteen and dining area, a redesigned nursery, a new changing room and expanded luggage storage.

Open 24/7, the USO is staffed by a group of 560 volunteers and funded completely via private donations.

Marc Bulger, quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, teamed with a local radio personality to help raise the funds for the recently completed renovation and expansion. Bulger also personally footed half the bill with a $150,000 donation.

"This is for the military," he said at the June re-opening ceremony. "Maybe give them … a little piece of home before they go out and protect us."

The USO renovation was dedicated to Rocky Sickmann, a former Marine from St. Louis who was held hostage in Iran for more than 400 days in 1980/81.