In an interview, he said: "The idea that I would be able to even finish the job before the enemy got me was ludicrous. When you know you're not gonna make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you're going to save your butt."
The man is John W. Ripley, Colonel, USMC. He passed away this last week. He was a holder of the Navy Cross (and arguably, I think, it should have been a Medal of Honor, but we weren't giving those out as the government was desperate to depart Vietnam and didn't need any heroes like that to fire the imagination, thank you very much).
He's the man who blew up the bridge at Dong-Ha, putting a severe crimp in the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive of 1972. And he didn't just leisurely wander up to an already-prepped bridge, wire up the terminals on the blasting machine and shout "Fire in the hole!" as he twisted and pushed the plunger. No, he prepped and wired the bridge, dangling underneath it - under fire. That's where the quote above comes from.
I should note that in addition to his Navy Cross, he wore the Purple Heart, Silver Star, and had two Bronze Stars with "V" for valor.
If you'd to know more about battle at Dong-Ha, go visit the Anti-Chomskyan Redoubt and read, "Ripley at the Bridge"
Hear Colonel Ripley tell the story himself, in the USNI's "American's at War" series.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam for Colonel John Ripley, USMC, holder of the Navy Cross.
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