Wednesday, 1 November 2006

Willow Oaks Country Club

Over 160 Council members, family, friends, and Marines gathered at the Willow Oaks Country Club to celebrate the founding of the United States Marine Corps. One of the Marine Corps most highly decorated members, Col. John W. Ripley, was the guest speaker on this occasion. Col. Ripley’s citations awarded for heroism during action in the Vietnam War. He is the recipient of the Navy Cross.

Ripley, a native of Radford, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1962. Classmate CDR Paul Galanti, a Vietnam POW for seven years, introduced his long-time fiend.

Following lunch and a cake-cutting ceremony, Col. Ripley paid tribute to the Marines, making it clear, “Once a Marine, always a Marine!” The Col. told the appreciative crowd, “The cheapest way to kill the enemy is to send a Marine with a rifle.” The Marines, he said, give the United States the best return on defense dollars. “Austerity has been a way of life in the Marine Corps. Indeed it is a religion to us, to be the leanest of services.”

Col. Ripley, a former president of Southern Virginia College in Buena Vista and Hargrove Military Academy in Chatham is a former director of the Marine Corps History and Museums Division.