About this episode
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/playlist?list=PL1a68IKIffqZ0Ad89mGt5AZQiGsuc0BbJI highly recommend reading the book so that you can read the Appendices, which contain the full text of his testimonies. Just a warning, they're a little graphic, but they need to be, since he is illustrating the realities of combat: https://www.amazon.com/American-Knight-Life-Colonel-Ripley/dp/1877905410Soon this book will be up on Audible as well, which will include the Appendices, I just haven't narrated it quite yet. It'll be another few days, probably.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.00:00 Intro00:27 Ch. 18 “A Holy Crusade”08:55 Ch. 19 In Defense of Womanhood and Femininity21:21 Ch. 20 Experiments in a Petri Dish30:00 Ch. 21 Traditional American Elite36:18 Ch. 22 The Most Dramatic Liver Transplant in History47:29 Ch. 23 Final Notes in Life’s “Symphony”56:40 Ch. 24 The Burial of a Legend01:05:06 Ch. 25 He Honored Us All01:16:00 AcknowledgementsCheck out the YouTube channel, if you want: https://www.youtube.c
