Death of a Marine Vietnam hero

W. Thomas Smith:

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The enemy was attacking in great strength – huge numbers of infantry, tanks, artillery – and (Col. John W.) Ripley's little force was ordered to "hold and die."

Dying would be easy. But the only way to hold was to blow the bridge spanning the Dong Ha River. And, as Ripley said, he was "the Marine there to do it."

Then a 33-year-old captain, Ripley accomplished his task by dangling from the bridge's I-beams, climbing along the length of the bridge hand-over-hand, his body weighted down with explosives, the enemy shooting at him, desperately trying to kill the lone Marine hanging beneath the bridge.

In a June 2008 interview for Marine Corps Times, Ripley said “I had to swing like a trapeze artist in a circus and leap over the other I-beam. ... I would work myself into the steel. I used my teeth to crimp the detonator and thus pinch it into place on the fuse. I crimped it with my teeth while the detonator was halfway down my throat.”

Ripley set the charges and moved back to the friendly side of the river, all the while under heavy fire.

When the timed-fuses detonated, Ripley – running for his life on the road leading away from the bridge – was literally blown through the air by the massive shockwave he had engineered. The next thing he remembered, he was lying on his back as huge pieces of the bridge were hurtling and cartwheeling across the sky above him.

In an interview for Americans at War (U.S. Naval Institute), Ripley said, "The idea that I would be able to even finish the job before the enemy got me was ludicrous. When you know you're not gonna make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you're going to save your butt."

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In addition to being one of the Corps greatest heroes and a legend among midshipmen at Annapolis (his alma mater), this year Ripley became the first Marine inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.

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Dong Ha is where I first served in Vietnam. After I joined Mike Company 3/3 I spent the rest of my time north of Dong Ha. Ripley is deserving of his status as a hero. I am surprised he did not get a Medal of Honor for his efforts considering not only the danger he put himself into but also the effects of his heroism.

Semper Fi Col. Ripley.