North Florida Writer
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Around Us
  • Contact
  • MY BOOK PAGE

SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN: Father's Day, 2020 and a "Line in the Sand"

6/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Captain John Ripley, USMC (1973)
"Sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand." 
                                             - Captain John Ripley, USMC (1972)


In early 1972 and arriving for his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Marine Captain John Ripley found the country far different than during his last tour of duty as a rifle platoon leader in 1967-68.  American combat units were no longer operating in the country since being pulled out as part of the plan to fully Vietnamese the ground operation. Navy ships still patrolled the waters and flight missions were still operational but on a smaller scale and Ripley found himself assigned as an advisor to a battalion of Vietnamese Marines, seven hundred strong. He found these soldiers to be the cream of the crop and his counterpart, Major Le Ba Bihn, was an excellent officer and a highly decorated one and the two men quickly developed a close working relationship. This would prove to be very important very soon as the unit was ordered to Dong Ha on the Cua Viet River with the mission of keeping advancing North Vietnam forces from crossing the river on the way to Saigon. The assault on Saigon was beginning and the North had every reason to believe that without the strong American ground forces, they could successfully end the war. Over twenty-five thousand regular North Vietnamese troops would be crossing the bridge with some two hundred tanks as well. Major Bihn's Marines were tasked with taking out the bridge. His small force of  Marines were huge underdogs and could get no air support, but Bihn and his advisor, Ripley, came up with a seemingly impossible plan to accomplish their mission.

Captain Ripley was well trained in demolition and it was decided that with Bihn's Marines fighting hard to hold their positions and giving Ripley cover, he could somehow place explosives under the bridge while the enemy was held on the north bank of the river.  It was difficult for the American Marine to traverse largely open ground to the bridge, yet somehow the brave South Vietnamese Marines provided the cover necessary and kept the enemy from reaching the bridge for the three hours necessary for Ripley to place the charges.  The bridge was destroyed, the North Vietnamese advance stopped and was turned around with many casualties, and it would take three full years to accomplish their mission which they thought would be over soon.  Bihn's unit was nearly decimated but accomplished their mission and Bihn would himself when the fall eventually came spend eleven years in a Communist prison but would eventually be allowed to come to America and become a citizen. Captain Ripley lived to be a career Marine, rising to the rank of Colonel and becoming the first Marine to become a recipient of the Distinguished Graduate award from his alma mater, the Naval Academy, the highest award the academy can give to a former Midshipman. Many years after the two men worked so bravely together, they were reunited and stayed good friends until Ripley's death in 2008.

So, why would I use this story on Father's Day?  What is the lesson that applies to the duty of a father in raising a child?  Quite simply put, it's because of the quotation which then Captain Ripley used to explain why he did what he did, "sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand" and the way the Marine lived his life. You see, Captain Ripley served in his dangerous assignment while missing his wife and his young daughter back home.  And like every good father, getting home to those loved ones was so important to him that he would do whatever it took to both successfully complete his mission and get home again.  He was a man of faith and he knew that only full success would allow him to return home, that otherwise he would have quickly become just another gruesome statistic from war and that only with God's help could he do the seemingly impossible. He prayed for himself and Major Bihn and his brave Marines and God answered his prayers and his actions serve to tell any father something that is not war related but is also very important to fulfilling the task of being a good father.

Again, I repeat the quotation, "sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand." As a father, a man must instill good moral values and godly virtues in their children to prepare them to face a world that is in many ways so jaded.  And while it would be easy to just surrender our values and take the easy way out, if we did so our children would be of very little value to God and his mission for  them.  God gave each of us a purpose, and in the case of a father, it's to prepare a child to live a good life and honor God in all that we do and, in this world today, that definitely requires each of us to "draw a line in the sand" regarding what we will expect of  our children which should govern the way we raise them.  Now that is never easy, but it is what is expected by Him.  And so, in raising your children, fathers, will you draw your line in the sand as to what is acceptable and not?  If you do, and you instill it for all the right reasons, a child will learn a way to live that will come back to him or her, even if they falter along the way.  If you don't, well, the result will not be one that is likely to be very admirable at all. And that's why I chose the heroics of John Ripley for the baseline of this Fathers Day commentary. I hope you find these words valuable and worthwhile. Happy Fathers Day, everyone.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    ABOUT ME

    Hi, I'm James, a writer who studies nature,  animals and all things created by God. I also write from time to time about what I think God expects of us.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. I hope you enjoy my comments.

    Archive

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    America
    American Sports
    Animals
    Armed Forces Day
    Conservatism
    Doctorpatient0717615167
    Elections-2016
    Florida
    Florida-politics
    Freedom
    Freedom-of-speech
    Geese
    God
    Gods Glory0546cd6883
    Health Care
    Honor
    Integrity
    Jesus Christ
    Koch-brothers
    Leisure-time
    Love
    Military
    Nature
    Primaries
    Proverbs
    Safety
    Savior
    The Future
    Top-political-donors-list
    Tyrannical-government

    RSS Feed

Thanks for contacting northfloridawriter.com.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Arian Zwegers, trvlto, thomas pix, taberandrew, Justin A. Wilcox, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, ckay, phalinn, curtis palmer, bnpositive, oddsock, HooLengSiong, jespahjoy, illustir, ljlphotography, Out at Bob's, The Labour Party, ljlphotography, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, eli.pousson, JasonParis, Fibonacci Blue, wht_wolf9653, bsabarnowl, ` TheDreamSky, Ken_Hoffman, dsearls, NCinDC, James Byrum, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, cliff1066™, possan, dpape, David Holt London, akeg, Waiting For The Word, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, MilitaryHealth, yukali, infomatique, goforchris, cliff1066™, Wootang01, dctim1, Donald Lee Pardue, LizMarie_AK, campdarby, CedarBendDrive, bill85704, faeparsons, TMAB2003, cliff1066™, Rennett Stowe, KOMUnews, cliff1066™, chris.huggins, USDAgov, mat_walker, gruntzooki, DonkeyHotey, ljlphotography, Elvert Barnes, Paulsasleepwalker, facebook.com/snapshotsofthepast, foto3116, Miller_Center, digitonin, BostonCatholic, Watt_Dabney, jepoirrier, EpicFireworks, derekskey, cletch, DonkeyHotey, KOMUnews, DonkeyHotey, ravensong75, Alan Cleaver, Francisco Diez, hermmermferm, cod_gabriel, Marxchivist, Fibonacci Blue, dbgg1979, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, David Barrie, rjs1322, Just Another Wretch, Keith Laverack, Waiting For The Word, whoohoo120, AFS-USA Intercultural Programs, Brett Jordan, yisris, Michael Hodge, Waiting For The Word, MilitaryHealth, doceggman, AlmazUK, taberandrew, cliff1066™, krossbow, shinya, The Jewish Agency for Israel, kudumomo, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, cliff1066™, johntrainor, emilio labrador, cliff1066™, EraPhernalia Vintage . . . (playin' hook-y ;o), **emmar**, Mrs. Gemstone, Andrea Westmoreland, Jeff Kern, Waiting For The Word, Abdulsalam Haykal, Donald Lee Pardue, roberthuffstutter, Dougtone, b1mbo, DonkeyHotey, paularps, kaatjevervoort, Simon Davison, BONGURI, Marion Doss, ex_magician, Bergfels, Brett Jordan, Tim Evanson, Art4TheGlryOfGod, Jeff Kubina, sskennel, DonkeyHotey, VirtKitty, Rodrigo_Soldon, resistealeau, MilitaryHealth, edalisse, Mervi Eskelinen aka tasselflower, Kaz Andrew, nitram242, Andrew Aliferis, uitdragerij, Paul J Everett, Joe Shlabotnik, Jeffrey, Harry Thomas Photography, Tim Evanson, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Ron Cogswell, Nationalmuseet, escapedtowisconsin, Michael Cory, DonkeyHotey, timsamoff, mrbillt6, bnilsen, themonnie, valeehill, dichohecho, Waiting For The Word, technochick, cliff1066™, RTD Photography, Randy Wick, Enokson, Rising Damp, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, SteveNakatani, Fovea Centralis, Dru Bloomfield - At Home in Scottsdale, lisaclarke, Mulad, Roswell_UMC, Bengt Nyman, U.S. Embassy New Delhi, FreedomHouse2, SuperFantastic, Rory Finneren, Alaskan Dude, Larry1732, Mr. T in DC, ikewinski, Ivy Dawned, RLHyde, Waiting For The Word, heartajack, dyogi, dailymatador, David Paul Ohmer, Pleuntje, Leonard Bentley, midwestnerd, Donald Lee Pardue, DonkeyHotey, Oli-Oviyan, PatrikWalde, flamesworddragon, The U.S. Army, Zach Heller Photography, DonkeyHotey, EvinDC, Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections, Ronnie Macdonald, Gerry Dincher, The U.S. Army, Jeff Belmonte, DonkeyHotey, Texas Military Forces, jim.greenhill, Ben Sutherland, the Original Jeff Martin, Loz Flowers, CBP Photography, spbpda, OCVA, Hot Rod Homepage, brianholsclaw, dozodomo, quinn.anya, KOMUnews, wtstoffs, Leo Newball, Jr., lilli2de, dmott9, Justin A. Wilcox, sören2013, boboroshi, newagecrap, CoreBurn, simminch, ninahale, EvinDC, Mister Awesome, HeyRocker, beggs, Donald Lee Pardue