Marines Honor Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.)

On November 7 I attended the funeral of Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.), a hero of the Vietnam War. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Naval Academy. As I wrote in my recent article titled "The Commandant, the Colonel, and 'Making Marines,'" Colonel Ripley and Gen. Robert H. Barrow, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who passed away on October 30, were special to the Center for Military Readiness and to everyone who knew them. More...