"The most revered war hero you never heard of"

That would be retired US Marine Col. John W. Ripley, who died at home Oct. 28. He was awarded the Navy Cross for single-handedly blowing up a key bridge in South Vietnam to blunt the North's "Easter Offensive."

Going back and forth for three hours while under fire, Captain Ripley swung hand over hand along the steel I-beams beneath the bridge, securing himself between girders and placing crates holding a total of 500 pounds of TNT in a diagonal line from one side of the structure to the other. The I-beam wings were just wide enough to form pathways along which he could slide the boxes.

When the boxes were in place on the bridge, Captain Ripley attached blasting caps to detonate the TNT, then connected them with a timed-fuse cord that eventually extended hundreds of feet.

The cause of death has not been released.