The Bridge at Dong Ha

I would not have know about this Hero's story had the AP not posted Col. John Ripley's death today (02-11-2008). I wonder why this has not been made a movie? Instead we get the Deer Hunter and Platoon. Oh well, I even question the AP's motivation in making this newsworthy, not that it isn't, it definitely is. Knowing the AP's political bent, I think it is implying that a Vietnam War Vet Hero younger then McCain just died of natural causes. Of course that's my paranoid side thinking, but how many war hero's you never really heard of before get AP news worthy treatment when they die? Not many if you ask me, this is basically a first for me and I follow the news pretty close online. Looks like a short book of under 200 pages, I wish it was cheaper so I'll just research the battle online, it sounds gripping. I'm glad he got the Navy Cross, sounds like he deserved even higher but the Navy Cross is the 2nd highest you can get so he is in elite company, I would not be surprised if he is awarded The Medal Of Honor someday. God bless you Sir, I salute you.

Real heroes are those who do what is right rather than what will keep them out of trouble with superiors. John Ripley is one of those heroes. Ignoring orders to the contrary, he risked not only his reputation and career but his life for a cause that had long ago become unpopular. Ripley was not concerned about another medal or about career objectives; he acted not for personal gain but for the lives of fellow warriors he had volunteered to help against all odds. This is that daring and inspiring story of initiative that risks all for the sake of comrades.

This is one of the best written "Marine Legend" books that this former Marine has ever read. John Grider Miller did an excellent job of interviewing Colonel (then Captain) John Ripley and his other sources. He presents what Colonel Ripley, his U.S. Army counterpart Major Jim Smock, and the Vietnamese Marines did at Dong Ha in 1972 in a fascinating story that is a quick and easy read. He also includes some of those intangible details that civilians may not notice, but that any Marine who served in Vietnam (or anywhere else) will recognize and appreciate. Colonel Ripley's exploits are legendary in the U.S. Marine Corps. So too the courage of those Vietnamese Marines he served with as a "trusted friend" on that Easter Sunday. Colonel Ripley's visit to the gravesite near Di An tells it all. The bond between these "brothers in arms" was formed by honor, courage, commitment, mutual respect and sacrifice. This book is on the Commandant's Reading list for all Marines, Private through General. And rightly so. It sets the standard high for all of us. It has an honored place in the "Read Again" section of my personal library.

"The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone." Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People, 1882 This story is about one man toward the end of the Vietnam War, whose task was to blow up a bridge so the enemy would have a hard time getting to the south. John Walter Ripley was up to the task. Read the book. It can be read in an hour. Certainly Ripley calls to mind Gilliatt, the hero of Victor Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea".

In his desperate attempt to blow up the bridge at Dong Ha and keep some 30,000 men and 200 tanks at bay, Ripley endured three hours of direct fire to rig more than 500 pounds of explosives. Handwalking the beams beneath the bridge, crimping detonators with his teeth, and racing the burning fuses back to shore, he saved his comrades from certain death. This earned Ripley the Navy Cross. He is a 1962 graduate of the United States Naval Academy - - yet another fine American produced at Annapolis.