After
retirement, General Mundy and his wife, Suzanne settled
for a few years in Arlington, Virginia, where they
owned a home. In 1974, they moved to San Antonio.
Tragically,
Mrs. Mundy died unexpectedly in 1987, George Mundy
was devastated by the loss of his wife - a bereavement
that he continues to bear. It had been a happy, enduring
and fulfilling marriage for 53 years.
Shortly
after the death of Suzanne, the General took up residency
in an Army Retirement Complex in San Antonio, not
far from his former neighborhood. Though restricted
by health problems, he continues to remain fairly
active at his life-long pastime- golf. Numbering very
high on the list of his friends was his all-black
cat - "Putty Tat," a loyal and 1oving companion and
living remembrance of Suzanne.
Unfortunately,
"Putty Tat" died suddenly in the autumn of 1991. Since
then, he has acquired another furry companion to share
his life with.
During
General Mundy's 39 years of military service,
he had many happy memories.
A few of these stories are recalled below:
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"I
was Commanding Officer of Eglin AFB before the start
of World War II. Many unhappy American boys had been
drafted, When, on leave some - had used bad manners
and even force while hitch-hiking. The press played
it up big and this made the service look bad. So orders
came down from higher echelon directing that word
go out ordering the men that there would be no more
hitch-hiking in uniform. This order was published
in a Daily Bulletin which ended 'By order of the Commanding
Officer, Major George W. Mundy.
One
weekend I had occasion to drive to Montgomery in my
private auto. On the way back, I noticed an airman
in uniform thumbing a ride. I stopped and picked him
up. As we started off. I couldn't resist saying, 'Soldier,
don't you know it's against regulations to hitch-hike
in uniform?' He blew my hair back with his reply,
'yeah, but I don't care as long as that S.O.B. Major
Mundy doesn't find out about it. I let it pass for
a moment, then said, 'I am Major Mundy. He obviously
didn't believe me and said, 'Why do all you non-coms
try to pass yourselves off as officers?' I pulled
off to the side of the road and showed him my I.D.
He responded as if I had hit him in the face with
my fist. Then, we both broke out into spasms of laughter
for the next five minutes. When we drove off again,
I said. 'Soldier, we'll just forget about this incident:
neither of us will say a word about it.' When we arrived
at Eglin, I let him out and that was the last I ever
saw or heard of him." (Talk about putting your foot
in your mouth).
"As
Commander of Eglin at the time of Pearl Harbor, Jimmy
Doolittle, one day soon after the start of the war,
came into my office. He told me he had very hush-hush
orders, which for security reasons had never been
put into writing. He went on to say he would need
the use of many of our facilities, including an emergency
airstrip. I asked him how he would be using this particular
runway. He could only tell me that they would be making
an outline of an aircraft carrier on it. Though I
could only guess as to its purpose, the request seemed
legitimate, and I indicated to him that I would not
insist on written orders but would take him at his
word. At this stage of the war Uncle Sam insisted
on strict accountability of all government property
and money, particularly on those bases located in
the United States.
Doolittle's
men and their B-25's trained persistently at Eglin
for the following 3 to 4 weeks and we cooperated with
them in every way that we could. Then one day they
took off and I didn't hear of them again until glaring
headlines startled the country by proclaiming "DOOLITTLE
BOMBS TOKYO FROM SHANGRI-LA" Not only were the
facts reveled, but at least I could settle the property
and money accounts that had been so long on hold.
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