Col. Ripley is my wife’s cousin and while I don’t profess to know the whole story behind why the MOH was not granted I believe part of the reason may be although the order was given to blow up the bridge it was an “unofficial” order and Command did not want to make it an “official” one for some reason.
I know many have been working on trying to upgrade it to a MOH because he truly was an American hero.
He was also a very humble and inspiring man and my son is now in his senior year at Delaware Miltary Academy, the only full time Navy JROTC program in the country, because of the inspiration he provided. He is now pursuing a ROTC scholarship and has a career goal of becoming a Green Beret because of Col. Ripley’s life and service.