A Simple Prayer and a Blasted Bridge: Marine John Ripley Receives Posthumous Medal of Honor

For decades, young midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy have walked by “Ripley at the Bridge,” a dramatic diorama within the Memorial Hall foyer in Bancroft Hall featuring Marine Capt. John Ripley dangling from a girder over the Cua Viet River. On Thursday, 54 years after his actions in Vietnam that made him an iconic military hero and 18 years after his death in 2008, Ripley was posthumously presented with the Medal of Honor at the White House. Previously awarded the Navy Cross, Ripley’s upgrade to the military’s highest honor was approved by Congress in March, but was awaiting signoff