By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

TOWN OF MINDEN — Supporting their fellow veterans. That’s one mission of AMVETS Post 2000, members of which recently raised $1,400 in support of homeless veterans’ shelters and other vital services for former military personnel.

On Oct. 6, the vets, their family members, dignitaries and friends gathered at the post across from the South Minden Fire Department on Route 163 here for a hearty roast beef dinner, a check presentation and a fundraiser for another good cause: A cross-country motorcycle trip to Baton Rouge, La., for the reunion of the USS Albany CA123 by three of the group’s members.

Joe Ballas, finance officer of the local post, said Bleecker residents Rich Bump, Sr., his son, Rich Bump, Jr., and Fort Plain resident Steve Greene, the commander of the Sons group, were to ride their motorcycles there for the gathering last week.

The elder Bump, a Korean service veteran who served on the USS Albany, said he was making the run in honor of Greene’s then-19-year-old brother, Philip, who was killed on Feb. 28, 1968 during the Tet Offensive.

Rich Bump, Sr. will be 80 in February.

Darlene Ripple, whose husband is a Vietnam veteran, said the elder Bump is “amazing. He’s been riding his motorcycle all summer long to support other veteran’s organizations.”

Bump’s son, a Middle East war veteran who attained the rank of senior chief after 27 years in the Navy,  finished his career by serving an additional 10 years with the Marines.

Greene said he was riding because he likes to ride. “We’re all veterans, all heroes,” he said.

Among those present for the function was Navy veteran Bryon Koshgarian, director of veterans services at the Albany Housing Coalition, who accepted a check for $700 in support of homeless veterans’ housing and services in Albany.

Ballas said the ladies’ auxiliary was responsible for organizing that late-August fundraiser — the first-ever Veterans’ Benefits Day. Half of the $1,400 event proceeds were donated late last month to the Guardian House homeless women’s shelter, which is operated by Saratoga County Rural Preservation Co.

In making the presentation to Koshgarian, AMVETS post commander Howard Gushue, Jr., of Fort Plain, said, “I would like to thank everyone that came out today and showed their support. I would also like to thank the veterans for all they do.”

Fort Plain Mayor Guy Barton echoed that, thanking the members of the auxiliary for raising the money “and for the people who defended our country. Without them, we don’t know where we’d be. The men deserve the credit for the time they put in the service to defend our country.”

Finally Koshgarian said, “As a representative of the Albany Housing Coalition and a director of veterans services, I commend this AMVETS post for their gracious hospitality, commitment, and voluntarism to the cause, and their substantial contribution to homeless veterans.”