John Ripley: The Catholic Marine Who Stopped an Army | Pt. 1

Welcome to the Catholic Men's Podcast, helping you find good works of literature for the Catholic gentleman.

Here's a playlist with all the parts of the book: https://www.youtube.com/playli...

Audible audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0G...

The greatest pulpit orator of the nineteenth century, Lacordaire, once said that the vocation of a soldier is next in dignity to the priesthood, not only because it commissioned him to defend justice on the field of battle and order on the field of peace, but also because it called him to the spirit and intention of sacrifice.

Today I'm narrating, “An American Knight: The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC,” by Norman J. Fulkerson.

There's something about a Catholic soldier that really captivates my imagination. Saints like George, Martin of Tours, Sebastian and the Martyrs of the Theban Legion have fascinated young Catholic men for centuries.  When I heard that my friend, Mr. Norman Fulkerson, wrote a book about a United States Marine whose fervent faith and Catholic upbringing aided him in saving an untold number of lives in the Vietnam War - I had to read that book. I was in Australia at the time promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima and I'll never forget reading this gem of a book in the outback. 

Since then he's had trouble in getting the book narrated and I promised him that over the course of lent, I would narrate the book on my channel. It'll be in 3 parts, launched over the course of a few weeks this lent, which I think is appropriate timing because Col. John Ripley was forced to stop the brutal advance of the North Vietnamese communist army by blowing up the Dong Ha Bridge on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972. Not only is this book anti-communist, but it's distinctly Catholic and gives many principles on how a man should act when faced with adversity. You can listen to this to fall asleep if you want, as part of our Catholic Insomniac series, but it's a very rousing and exciting story.
So let's begin…

00:00 Intro
02:16 Forward
09:18 Preface
14:13 Introduction
20:07 Ch. 1. Birth and Childhood 
29:42 Ch. 2. “Culture and Refinement Personified”
40:47 Ch. 3. Huckleberry Finn
51:45 Ch. 4 .City of Radford
58:55 Ch. 5. Hearing the Battle Cry
1:10:00 Ch. 6. Naval Academy
1:19:56 Ch. 7. Moline Blaylock
1:26:54 Ch. 8. The Challenges of Fatherhood

Check out the YouTube channel, if you want: https://www.youtube.com/@catholicmenspodcast