A hometown and national hero received special honors on October 5, 2002 when the city of Hampton dedicated the Ruppert Leon Sargent Memorial City Administration Building in downtown Hampton.

The 117,000-square-foot, seven story building is named in honor of Hampton's only Medal of Honor recipient. Army 1LT Sargent, a native of the Phoebus section of Hampton, sacrificed his life in the Vietnam War in 1967, to save the life of fellow soldiers. In 1969, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest military decoration for valor.

A platoon leader with Co. B, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division "Tropic Lightning," 1LT Sargent was born, raised and educated in Hampton, and is buried in Hampton National Cemetery.

The high-rise municipal structure houses the offices of the Hampton Schools Administration, the Hampton Commissioner of Revenue, City Treasurer, and departments of Planning, Assessors, Economic Development and Retail Development.

Designed by CMSS Architects and constructed by Blueridge General Contractors, the Ruppert Leon Sargent Memorial Building features a Hampton Veterans Conference Room on the first floor for public use.

A fund-raising drive, co-chaired by former Virginia Senate Majority Leader Hunter B. Andrews and Major General (retired) Wallace Arnold, U.S. Army, collected some $50,000 in donations for a bronze bust of Hampton's national hero, other adornments in the building honoring Hampton's veterans, and the dedication itself. The head-and-shoulders bust of 1Lt Sargent will be on permanent display in the building's lobby.