Existing comment:
Ripley at the Bridge:
Members of Naval Academy Classes from the mid-30s to the early 70s participated in America's longest war. In one sense, however, the war was unique to the CLASS of 1962 which suffered the greatest losses. The war started when they were Ensigns and Second Lieutenants and America's involvement ended when they were senior officers.
The diorama depicts CAPTAIN JOHN RIPLEY, US Marine Corps, Naval Academy Class of 1962, in action at Dong Ha on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972. Two reinforced North Vietnamese divisions (30,000 troops and over 200 tanks) were attempting to cross the Dong Ha bridge which would have given them a clear shot at the provincial capitol of Quang Tri and then, unhampered, on to the ancient capitol of Hue.
Against seemingly insurmountable odds, Captain Ripley, a Force Reconnaissance officer who had earlier served as a British Royal Marine Commando company commanders, single-handedly carried over 500 lbs of plastic explosives into the under structure of the bridge. Another army advisor on the south bank handed explosives to Ripley while he was under the bridge. Ripley, the sole Marine advisor to the 3rd Vietnamese Marine Battalion, was under constant fire from numerous tanks and hundreds of North Vietnam's. [sic] |