The Bridge at Dong Ha

By: John Grider Miller

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

On Easter morning, 1972, Marine captain John Ripley braved intense enemy fire to blow up a bridge during the North Vietnamese "Easter Offensive." Ripley became a legend within the Marine Corps for his daring act of heroism. His story is described here by fellow Marine John Grider Miller. Miller lays bare Ripley's innermost thoughts during the 3 hours it took to place and set the fuses while some 30,000 enemy troops and 200 tanks prepared to cross just yards away. Such a compelling act of raw courage and personal resolve is rarely encountered.©1989 United States Naval Institute (P)1997 United States Naval Institute

Critic reviews

"This story of men doing the extraordinary can make for a well-spent evening." AudioFile

Fantastic

The narration is a little fuzzy but once you get into the story, it doesn’t matter. It’s doubtless a lot clearer than the voice quality over an ARVN field radio. This is a fantastic story of heroism against the odds, and frankly brought tears to my eyes on several occasions. If you ever think your day is going badly, take a moment to thank God that you are not sitting in a foxhole in Dong Ha facing a column of Soviet T54s.

A great story marred by a horrible recording

This is such a good historical event and supposed to be the book about the topic compared to other things. However, this audiobook is horrible marred by such a bad recording of the narrator that it makes me wonder if any producer or anyone reviewed this for release.
This book needs to be redone by a more professional narrator.

Amazing story

Older recording but still incredible to hear the author and LtCol Ripley at the beginning. Amazing story of courage and heroism. Great read, and I recommend Ride The Thunder for the “rest of the story”

Selfless American Hero

Think of all the lousy generals, attention seeking narcissists, war criminals who always seek the limelight and you won’t find that here. None of the false courage of Dugout Doug, the bravado of Patton or the smallness of Petraeus, Colonel Ripley is a genuine self-effacing American hero. What you want your son to be and what you hope you can be. God bless Col Ripley.

Great story

Absolutely incredible story of the combination of courage and stamina and endurance...physical and mental. As a retired Marine officer, I thought I was familiar with Captain Ripley’s actions at Dong Ha but this book filled in the blanks. Only down side is the muffled narration. Other than that, great read/listen. Semper Fi.