Ken Bumpus

King of Devil's Canyon Ken Bumpus

This is the fourth published work by KEN BUMPUS PHCM, USN (Ret.) His first two were fact/fiction novels depicting the adventures and light-hearted antics of a group of Navy Combat Photographer/Journalists in Vietnam. The third is the author's autobiography describing his youth in the Black Hills of South Dakota where he grew up absorbing the legends of 'Wild Bill' Hickock, Calamity Jane, Gen. George Custer, etc. At 17 he enlisted in the Navy and subsequently spent 25 years service in WW II, Korea and Vietnam. In 1963 he was picked as one of the Navy's top documentary photographers to participate in a Navy sponsored course in photojournalism at Syracuse University. He served as a Navy Combat Photojounalist in Korea during the Inchon Invasion, the evacuations of Hungnam and Iwon (North Korea), as well as the UN troops' final withdrawal from Inchon. This was followed by three tours in Vietnam. His photos and stories of the Navy and Marine actions received world-wide distribution and earned him the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Achievement Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, among numerous other campaign service medals. His final three years of Navy service were as Staff Photojournalist for the United States Naval Academy, where he retired as a Master Chief Photographer/Photojournalist in 1973. He now resides in Longwood, Florida spending his retirement writing and photographing for pleasure. He can presently be contacted at: kbumpus@cfl.rr.com