John Ripley ( USMC ) John Walter Ripley ( June 29 , 1939 – October 28 , 2008 ) was a United States Marine Corps officer who received the Navy Cross for his actions in combat during the Vietnam War . On Easter morning 1972 , Captain Ripley , repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire over a three hour period as he prepared to blow up an essential bridge in Dong Ha . His actions significantly hampered the North Vietnamese Army ' s advance into South Vietnam . The story of " Ripley at the Bridge " is legendary in the Marine Corps and is captured in a diorama at the United States Naval Academy . His story is required reading for academy students . Military career . John Walter Ripley was born on June 29 , 1939 in Keystone , West Virginia and his family lived there until he was five years old . They then moved to Portsmouth Ohio , where they remained for some years before finally settling in Radford , Virginia . John Ripley enlisted into the Marine Corps in 1957 at 17 years of age . A year later , he was appointed to the U . S . Naval Academy by the Secretary of the Navy . He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering , and received his commission as a second lieutenant . After completing the Basic School , he joined the Marine Detachment on the . After his sea duty , he joined 2nd Battalion , 2nd Marines . In May 1965 , Ripley was transferred to 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company , and after training , he deployed to Vietnam with his platoon . In October 1966 , Ripley joined 3rd Battalion , 3rd Marines in South Vietnam . He served as Company Commander of Lima Company , known as Ripley ' s Raiders was wounded in action , then returned to active duty and completed his combat tour . During his two years of Vietnam service , he participated in 26 major operations . In addition to numerous decorations for extensive combat experience at the rifle company and battalion levels , Ripley was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in destroying the Dong Ha bridge during the April 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive ( also known as the Nguyen Hue Offensive ) . That action is memorialized at the Naval Academy with a large diorama titled " Ripley at the Bridge . " While under intense unrelenting enemy fire , Ripley dangled for an estimated three hours under the bridge in order to attach 500 pounds of explosives to the span , ultimately obliterating it . His action , conducted under enemy fire while going back and forth for materials , definitively thwarted an onslaught by 20 , 000 enemy troops and dozens of tanks and was the subject of a book , " The Bridge at Dong Ha " , by Colonel John Grider Miller . He attributes his success to the help of God and his mother . When his energy was about to give out he began a rhythmic chant , " Jesus , Mary , Get me there " . His body taxed to its extreme limits , his action is considered one of the greatest examples of concentration under fire in the annals of U . S . military history . It also delayed NVA forces from taking Saigon for another three years . Following his tours in Vietnam , Ripley served with Marine Force Reconnaissance , was an exchange officer with the British Royal Marines and was a Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion , 2nd Marines and the 2nd Marine Regiment . His final tours in the Marine Corps were in charge of the NROTC detachments at Oregon State University and the Virginia Military Institute , and as the senior Marine at the United States Naval Academy teaching English and history . He earned the " Quad Body " distinction for making it through four of the toughest military training programs in the world : the Army Rangers , Marine reconnaissance , Army Airborne and Britain ' s Royal Marines , according to Miller ' s book . He was also the only Marine officer to be inducted in the U . S . Army Ranger Hall of Fame . Ripley retired from the Marine Corps in 1992 after 35 years of active duty service . He received more than five awards for his acts of bravery in Vietnam . Post - active duty . After his retirement from active duty in 1992 , Ripley became president and chancellor of Southern Seminary College for Women ( now Southern Virginia University ) in Buena Vista , Virginia . He was selected in 1999 by the Marine Corps Commandant as the director of the History and Museums Division . As a result of combat action , Colonel Ripley contracted a disease that in the summer of 2002 required a liver transplant . Nearing death , with little time left and already having received Last Rites twice , a replacement liver was located . The Commandant of the Marine Corps , who called Col . Ripley a living symbol of pride , sent a section of CH - 46 s helicopters from the Marine One presidential squadron to Philadelphia to retrieve the liver . After further coordination with the Washington D . C . Police to obtain a landing zone in the city , the liver was delivered in time for a successful transplant . In June 1992 Col . Ripley testified against women in the military before a presidential commission . He based his arguments on a defense of “ femininity , motherhood , and what we have come to appreciate in Western culture as the graceful conduct of women . ” In the following year he spoke against homosexuals in the military during the House Armed Services Committee hearings that preceded the implementation of President Clinton ’ s " Don ’ t ask , don ’ t tell " policy . In October 2006 , John Ripley returned to the site of the Dong Ha Bridge to film a documentary of his action . The documentary was hosted by Oliver North , and was shown on November 12 , 2006 on Fox News . Awards and honors . In addition to the Navy Cross , his personal decorations include the Silver Star , two Legions of Merit , two Bronze Star Medal s with ' V ' for Valor , the Purple Heart , the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , the Meritorious Service Medal , the Navy Commendation Medal , the Combat Action Ribbon , the South Vietnamese Army Distinguished Service Order , 2nd Class , and the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star . In 2002 , he also became the very first Marine officer to receive the “ Distinguished Graduate Award ” , the highest and most prestigious award given by the United States Naval Academy . Also , in May 2004 , Marines of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit named a Forward Operating Base after him ( FOB Ripley ) in south - central Afghanistan . In July 2006 , the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport , Rhode Island dedicated its new dormitory as " Ripley Hall " , honoring their former graduate . On June 11 , 2008 , Ripley became the first Marine to be inducted into the U . S . Army Ranger Hall of Fame — honored for the assault on the Dong Ha Bridge , on Easter morning 1972 . On Tuesday November 11 , 2008 , Veteran ' s Day , Ripley ' s hometown of Radford , VA held a ceremony in memory of him . It had been originally intended to be in honor of him , but he died a couple weeks before the ceremony took place . His son was presented with a key to the city and a plaque declaring November 11 , 2008 , John W Ripley day in Radford , VA . Ripley died suddenly on October 28 , 2008 at his home in Annapolis , Maryland of undetermined causes at age 69 . He was survived by his son , Stephen , by his wife of 44 years , the former Moline Blaylock ; a sister , Susan Goodykoontz ; two other sons , Thomas and John ; a daughter , Mary Ripley ; nine grandchildren ; and one great grandchild . Moline Blaylock Ripley died on September 12 , 2009 , from complications due to Alzheimers disease , at the age of 68 . When he passed way , his son Thomas related at his funeral that Commandant James L . Jones visited him in his hospital bed accompanied by Color Sergeant of the Marine Corps Sgt Jewel and the Battle Colors , He told Ripley , " The Colors don ’ t leave the room until you do . " He was buried with full military honors on November 7 at the United States Naval Academy . On October 28 , 2009 , the first biography about Col . Ripley was published . It was written by Norman Fulkerson and is titled " An American Knight , The Life of Col . John W . Ripley " .