Col. John Ripley, USMC (Ret.)

AWP

SOF Support
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
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Location
Florida
The only Marine inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame and a hero in every sense of the word, the world has lost a great soul.

Godspeed, Sir.
 
A fellow COVAN and a legend in the Corps. Colonel Ripley will be greatly missed.
 
I've just realized that he was the author of The Bridge at Dong Ha, an inspirational moving book I read about 15 years ago. He was one of my heroes.

If I remember correctly, he fought alongside the South Vietnamese Marines at a latter stage of the Vietnam War in which most of the US troops had already left. He had a close relationship with the Marines. His account of them was one of the few I have read that paint a positive picture of South Vietnamese soldiers.

Towards the end, he visited the grave of one of the Marines who saved his life. I think it was three-fingered Jack. Really moving. I hope to read his book again.
 
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