Col. John Ripley was a decorated Marine, a Vietnam war hero, and an educator with strong ties to western Virginia. Ripley died over the weekend at his home in Annapolis, Maryland.
Ripley taught naval science at Virginia Military Institute during the early 90s. When he retired from active duty, he became President of Southern Virginia College in Buena Vista. He would later lead Hargrave Military Academy as well.
Ripley earned the Navy Cross for his service in Vietnam in 1972, when he rigged a bridge with 500 pounds of explosives and stopped an advancing column of North Vietnamese tanks.
Ripley was a native of Radford. He was 69 years old.
