Marine Hero Dies.

[dukesix]

Colonel John Ripley USMC Dies
By Townie 76

Retired Marine Col. John Ripley, who was credited with stopping a column of North Vietnamese tanks by blowing up a pair of bridges during the 1972 Easter Offensive of the Vietnam War, died at home at age 69, friends and relatives said Sunday.

John Ripley, Vietnam War hero, dies at age 69


ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Retired Marine Col. John Ripley, who was credited with stopping a column of North Vietnamese tanks by blowing up a pair of bridges during the 1972 Easter Offensive of the Vietnam War, died at home at age 69, friends and relatives said Sunday.

Shooter beat me to this article....go ahead and read his.


Dukesix

[reddog]

Dukesix,
There is no question about it, Col Ripley is a true Hero. On a side note, if memory serves me correctly, he wasn't the only Hero at that spot on that day. A couple of Cobra Gunship Pilots put their 'all' on the line too. May our Creator richly reward them and may our men now wearing the boots get the recognition they so deserve.
Easy Brother,
Reddog...

[PhoenixCadet]

God bless the colonel. Prayers out to his family.

-PC

[JmpMarine]

http://www.marines.mil/_layouts/getthumbnail.aspx?ImageUrl=http://www.marines.mil/units/hqmc/barracks/PublishingImages/081107-M-4926H-005.jpg

The United States Marine Corps Body Bearers raise the casket of Col. John C. Ripley towards the heavens as a final tribute for a fallen Marine. Ripley, an alumni of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., was buried there Nov. 7.

[JmpMarine]

http://www.marines.mil/_layouts/getthumbnail.aspx?ImageUrl=http://www.marines.mil/units/hqmc/barracks/PublishingImages/081107-M-4926H-002.jpg
Gen. James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps, speaks in remembrance of Col. John Ripley during the funeral at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Nov. 7. Ripley was a devoted husband and father and a supporter of traditional military values, said Conway.

http://www.marines.mil/_layouts/getthumbnail.aspx?ImageUrl=http://www.marines.mil/units/hqmc/barracks/PublishingImages/081107-M-4926H-003.jpg
Maj. Edward Greeley escorts the casket of Col. John Ripley during his funeral at U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Nov. 3. The funeral was said to be one of the largest ever held at the academy.