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Tsm J. Napolis, Md., Added Two >^'5 'AinnJi^ fci>.^««c£ilj4. 'SI w iu&M tSm Ml nc U.3. i^avai Acaaemy J. napolis, Md., added two mei to Memorial Hall recently. Both honor Academy graduates wh formed honorably and upheld th traditions of the class of 1962. : . 'Colonel Ripley, currently senior Ma- i. I. rl • V fine representative at the U.S. Naval i I! • . ! r •.' Academy, enlisted in the Corps in June of 1957. "I always Vk-anied to be .a Ma- .|i,, rine. There was never any oilier con- • 1 jf.-sideration," said Ripley. Fresh out of (I-: Radford High School, Radford, Va., ]!;• Ripley was deiermined to aa on,his not ' 'I so secret desire to be a Marine, j';' Jn recruit training, he found out a- i ' tout a program ihat put acdve duty sailors and Marines into the Nav^ I'. Academy Prep School prior to accep- •' lance into the Academy. Ripley was se- j lected for the program straight out of boot camp. "1 pursued this program. TTiat wasn't too easy because, ofcourse, ; anytime you identified yourselfas being interested in an officer program, well, the DIs went nuts!" Ripley remembers Col John Ripley'stood next to the diorama of his heroic effort to destroy the what the DIs would tell him. "They Dong Ha bridge. The diorama is In the foyer of ft/Jemorlal Hall at the U.S. Naval ! would yell, 'You haven't even gotten Academy, Annapolis, fWd. i through bootcamp yet!* Itsuregot me a A stint with theBridsh Royal Marines tour I had been out there 12 months," lot of unwanted attention. came next. Ripley was assigned to them *'I didn't apply myself very strongly Ripley pointed out. during 1969-71. "That was a tremen Things wereslow and quiet at the end in high school, 1 was more interested in dously exciting job," he remembered. athletics. But after leaving, I could see of March 1972, Already signs of theap Ripley was one of the last U.S. Marines proaching chaos and combat were ap there was more potential for the future w go through the Royal Marines train for someone with a formal education. ing with their recruits. One of the things pearing. The NVA weretesting defenses So 1 concentrated on getting my of the outer fire bases. "I had relumed Ripley was impressed by in the Royal from R&R several weeks before this and degree," Ripley said. Marines was the unit stability. "It had a The Naval Academy offered young very solidifying effect. Theyleave a man gone up north that last time, thinking Ripley a chance to get his education and 'Well, this is the end of it. I'll just sit in a unjt, instead of moving him around. around and wait for my time to go remain a Marine. But boot camp left a "When I got to Vietnam the second mark as well. "The impression is so in home.' That was it. There wasn't any rime, I had had the best training possi reason in the worid to expea that to delible. It's burned in my memory, that ble. It was a great advantage to have all change. Tilings were slow. We were sureness of having achieved something. that behind me," he recalled. The effea of that has given me strength mainly doingscouting patrols. I remem As an advisor, Ripley found himself ber going out and swimming in the over the years." Ripley remembers, in the same area where he had served river." "Having one of the drill instructors say five years before. "1 was the advisor to 'Good job, recruit' meant more to me The 27th of March was when things one of the best doggone units. The came unglued. "It became apparent that than any persoM decoration. Third Battalion, Vietnamese Marines it(the NVA probe) was ona much larg- "There-was never anything less than were incredibly good," he said. Ripley total respect for those Marines, if not was to find out just how good those fear," said Ripley ofhis drill instructors. Marines were sooner than he would When Ripley had finally completed have thought likely. his time at the Naval Academy and set As Col John Ripley began to describe off for The Basic School (TBS), Quan- the events leading up to the start of the tico, Va., he had six months of leave. "I EasterOffensive, it became clearthat his threw it away and reported right in. I second tourin Vietnam is clearly etched was eady to be with Marines." in his memory. As his story unfolded, Infantry was always his interest and time seemed to fall away and the he feels fortunate in having done what thousands of miles between Don£ Ha he enjoys and Annapolis disappeared. After completing TBS, Ripley was During Ripley's first tour inVietnam, assigned to sea duly for a year, "i was hehad been a company commander. "I on an aircraft carr'er. It was very had fought in virtually the same are^ valuable experience," he said. that we were in. On a nimiber of occa- A variety of other assignments sions I was theonly man in thebattalion , followed: Second Division, Camp Le- who had been to the plat s we were go- jeune, N.C.; "L"/3/3 near the Demili ing. We went out to Kh. Sanh, for ex tarized Zone, Vietnam; as well as Khe ample, and walked along Cau Rock Sanh, and Con Thien. "1 got^to spend Ridge out to (Hills) 1015 and 950.1 was some time in all the garden spots!" the only Americah, {ic only man who ' Ripley said, laughing. had been there before. During my first • Capt John Ripley, Vietnam. 1972 LfAMe/iNeCK • frBfiUA/tr 1936 RIPLEY{cont.) making." Ripley feels it was truly a • erscale than what we aniicipaied. They combat environment. No one could sit down and think things out. (ihe NVA) sianed putting pressure on "I was the only advisor represented the outer fire bases. It didn't"seem the there. Normally you had two advisors enemy had anything serious in mind. but my assistant had already gone," I Those fire bases (Fire Base Sarge and Ripley remembered. The decision had ' Nui Ba Ho) had beenoverrun once be •- ' f been made to cut back to one advisor 1 fore when 1 was there. I figured it was fr f ! .*! ' the same thing. per battalion' and Ripley >Yas there j "Major Walt Boomer was on Sarge alone. That morning when th^' saw the: and Capt Ray Smith was up on Nui Ba lank threat acros$ the river, he was do-1 Ho. That's where thefirst approach was everything he coJd tp determine ^ made. Well, the enemy didn't back off hpw to stop the ^or attack. Across and a veryseriouselement was introduc tl)e river, from near a railroad bridge, ed. Artillery fire started." Ripley then something attract^ his attention. Ripley i looked across; ' ' believed something more than just a "My gosh! jniat's not our flag! It was' probe was coming. Fresh out ol recruit Iraining, John a North Vietnamese flag. We knew they The Vietnamese Marines were mov Ripley would soon be on his way to ing up north to face down the threat and tho U.S. Naval Academy. • already had one end of the bridge. So; tostopthe NVA movement south. They then we made an effort to get back toj ran over there to make an analysis. I was •the main highway bridge. That was! didn't yet understand there wasa reason surprised actually to find that it pointed, to be terribly concerned. "1 still didn't when they started an artillery barrage' not to whereI believed the artilleryto be that was just indescribable. I've never' believe it was super serious. 1 thought, but generally in the DMZ area, where •WeU, we'll just have tostayhere for the seen anything like it in my life. Hun we didn't think the threat was coming dreds and hundreds of rounds of artil next few (^ys ora week and then we'll be from. And then when I came back from lery trying to reduce resistance at Dong back to sitting on bunker tops again.' " that, that's when I got a call from Col The NVA had set a pattern ofengaging Ha. The enemy didn't want any trouble Turley's folks. (LtCol Gerald H. Turley, crossing the river. the South Vietnamese and then backing USMCR, was the newly arrived assist off again. "We couldn't get through Dong Ha ant senior advisor to the Vietnamese so we went through a route I knew south But this time the NVA didn't disen MarineCorps. Duringan indoctrination of the old Marine combat base there. 1 gage. Ripley's battalion moved up to visit to the northern provincesof South Dong Ha. The Seventh Battalion and had used ita number of times inmy pre Vietnam, a series of bizarre incidents vious tour. The Vietnamese had no idea another unit had moved up to Mai Loc. occurred which, in essence, made him it was there. Again, I was lucky that I "We were considered the Division re coordinator of the defenses of Northern serve, the unit least likely to get involv had known where I was. Otherwise 1 Region One.) Things had indeed gotten never would have gotten back to Route ed." The situation looked pretty bad at very serious, and he said there was a both FB Sarge and Mai Loc. "That I. From there the question was, 'How large number of tanks coming south do I get up to the bridge?' " night I spent atDong Ha under artillery along this road here (Route I)." Ripley fire, all night long.
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