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Lexington (KY) Herald-Leaders
MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATED
For soldiers, thunder rolls
Bikers from across the nation meet Bush at the White House
STAFF, WIRE REPORT
WASHINGTON --
President Bush likes a serene White House most Sundays. Every now and then, though, he is ready to rumble. .......The trip isn't about bikes, it's about brotherhood, said Billy Adams, a Vietnam veteran and a member of the Lexington Bopsters Club who is making his 14th Memorial Day weekend trip to Washington.
"We do this every year for those who have fallen and can't be here," he said.
On this trip, Adams and his best friend, Ron Bump, who was a Vietnam prisoner of war for 14 months, brought a flag made by veterans at Green River Correctional Complex in Central City. Bump is also making his 14th trip with the Bopsters.
The Bopsters have recently sponsored the imprisoned veterans, helping them stay involved in veteran affairs and helping those that get out of the complex to get back on their feet.....
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'He was never a POW; that I know for a fact'
FAMILY, OFFICIAL LIST OF POWS DON'T BACK UP BIKER'S CLAIM
By Jim Warren
JWARREN@HERALD-LEADER.COM
A Lexington man who told the Herald-Leader he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam does not appear in the official Vietnam POW list at the Department of Defense.
Ron Bump was one of several members of the Lexington Bopsters motorcycle club who recently went to Washington for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group's annual visit to the Vietnam Memorial. His picture appeared on the front page of the paper on Monday over a caption identifying him as a Vietnam prisoner of war.
But since then the newspaper has received several calls and e-mails, some from members of Bump's own family, questioning whether he actually was a POW.
Bump's brother, Michael Bump, and his niece, Jennifer Phillips, both said in interviews yesterday that Bump served in Vietnam but was not a POW.
"He did a tour in Vietnam, but he was never a POW, that I know for a fact," Michael Bump said. "I don't know why he told a story like that."
Ron Bump yesterday dismissed such statements as part of a dispute within his family.
A check of the Defense Department's Web site, however, didn't turn up Ron Bump's name on the official list of Vietnam POWs.
Ron Bump conceded that he isn't listed but said it's because he was captured while on a mission that the Army never officially recognized.
He said he served in Vietnam in 1968 to '70. He said he was a crew chief on an air cavalry helicopter that was shot down and that he and other crew members were captured by the North Vietnamese. He said they eventually were freed by Army Special Forces, but he couldn't recall the date he was shot down or how long he was a prisoner.
Bump's mother, Ida Bump, reached at her New York home, recalled that she didn't hear from her son for a period of time while he was in Vietnam. "I know he got shot down," she said. But she said her son never specifically mentioned having been a POW after he got home.
"I've called congressmen and senators about it over the years, but it's not a recognizable mission," Ron Bump said. "Basically, in the government's eyes I'm not a POW."
Lt. Mary Olson, a spokeswoman at the Defense Department, said yesterday that many people have claimed to be Vietnam POWs, but are not so listed by the federal government.
"We've had some claim to be POWs and say they were on secret missions," Olson said. "But there are none of those reports that we've been able to back up. I'm not going to say he (Bump) never was, but our list is very thorough. If that's something he's claiming and he's not listed, he should take that up with his service."
Correction
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Posted on Fri, Jun. 01, 2007
Vietnam vet resigns from motorcycle club over POW status dispute
By Jim Warren
JWARREN@HERALD-LEADER.COM
Ron Bump has resigned from Lexington's Bopsters Motorcycle Club in the wake of reports that he was not a prisoner of war in Vietnam as he had claimed.
Bopsters president Billy Adams said Thursday that club officials asked for and received Bump's resignation after learning that he was not on the U.S. Defense Department's official list of prisoners of war from Vietnam. Club members were unaware that he wasn't on the list, Adams said.
"It was something our club couldn't tolerate," Adams said. "We're all for the POW-MIAs and we do a lot of work with the POW-MIAS. We are a charity club; we help the police department, the fire department and other organizations."
Bump served in Vietnam in 1968-70. He said he was captured and held as a prisoner of war after the Army helicopter he was on was shot down.
A photograph of Bump, identifying him as a former prisoner of war, appeared on the front page of the Herald-Leader on Monday. He was in Washington with other Bopsters members attending an annual gathering of cycle groups at the Vietnam Memorial.
After the picture appeared, however, the newspaper received calls and e-mails from several people questioning Bump's prisoner-of-war status. A check of the Defense Department POW list turned up no one named Bump.