BATAVIA, Ohio — Motorcycle deputies from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office rode at the front of the annual Sergeant Matt Maupin ride Saturday, leading a column of riders through the county in tribute to the Batavia-area soldier who died in captivity during the Iraq War.
“It was an honor for the Sheriff’s Motor Units to lead the annual Sergeant Matt Maupin ride through Clermont County,” the sheriff’s office said in a post after the July 11 event.
Photographs released by the office show dozens of riders — many in POW/MIA vests — gathered with deputies under gray skies and on rain-slicked pavement before the ride stepped off.
Maupin was 20 years old and serving with an Army Reserve transportation unit when his fuel convoy was ambushed west of Baghdad on April 9, 2004. Taken prisoner, he remained listed as captured for nearly four years — a period in which the Army continued to promote him — until his remains were recovered in Iraq in March 2008. He was buried at home in Clermont County with full military honors.
His father, Keith Maupin, has led the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, the Cincinnati-area nonprofit formed as the family’s answer to his son’s capture. The organization has awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships and continues to send care packages to deployed service members, and the annual July ride raises money for scholarships given in Matt Maupin’s name.
Maupin’s memory is woven through the county, from the welcome pavilion bearing his name at East Fork State Park to the annual ride that draws veterans, motorcycle clubs and law enforcement each summer.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.