The Bridge at Dong Ha

the long version

On Easter morning 1972 Marine captain John Ripley, the sole U.S. adviser to the tough Third Battalion of the South Vietnamese Marines, braved intense enemy fire to blow up a bridge and stop a major invasion form the north. The story of "Ripley at the Bridge", a legend within the Marine Corps, is captured by a fellow Marine who lays bare Ripley's innermost thoughts during his desperate struggle to keep 20,000 enemy soldiers and 200 tanks at bay. The introduction to this first-time recording, Ripley talks about what drove him to singlehandedly attempt such a feat and tells how he now views the act that brought him the Navy Cross.