[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H3248-H3249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                          TRIBUTE TO A PATRIOT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Rigell) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RIGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute, to honor, to 
remember, and to celebrate the life of an outstanding American patriot 
whom I greatly admired, Marine General Carl E. Mundy, Jr.
  It is not often, I would think, that a former sergeant in the Marine 
Corps Reserves becomes friends with a Four-Star General and a former 
Commandant of the Marine Corps, but such was my good fortune.
  I met General Mundy--he served as our 30th Commandant of the Marine 
Corps--through my father, Ike. They lived in the same retirement 
community in Florida and shared the special bond that binds one 
generation of American marines to the next.
  It is a connection that transcends grade and rank, officer and 
enlisted, and that my father fought in the battle for Iwo Jima, which 
is a sacred memory for all marines, made their friendship and their 
mutual respect that much deeper.
  It was at my dad's encouragement that I reached out to General Mundy 
when I sought this office. When I met him, he was 73 years old, yet he 
exuded, without effort and without pretense, the dignity and the 
military bearing that we would expect of a Marine Commandant.
  It was his humble spirit, however, that I truly found myself 
pondering and admiring long after our meetings and conversations had 
ended. Though the general always encouraged me to call him Carl, I 
never could. He was always, of course, General Mundy.
  Always a leader, the general encouraged me in this effort to, again, 
serve my country, not in uniform, but through public service; and I 
suspect he lent his good name and reputation to help me more out of 
respect for my dad than for me.
  Of the many endorsements I was so fortunate to receive, the general's 
meant the most. I believe all who favored me with their endorsement--
and I think especially those who served in our United States military--
will understand why the Commandant's endorsement was particularly 
meaningful.
  Not long after General Mundy lost his wife of 56 years, Linda Sloan 
Mundy, the general was diagnosed with cancer. My parents passed him in 
the neighborhood 1 day when he was still well enough to take his 
afternoon walks.
  Dad shared with me the account of how, when the general saw my 
parents coming and he recognized my father, he stopped, he came to full 
attention, and offered a respectful hand salute to

[[Page H3249]]

my dad who, again, was a World War II marine sergeant--a nice, crisp 
hand salute.
  Now, this is the spirit of the man and the marine, the humble warrior 
that I knew and so deeply respected. It is good to see the young people 
in the House today. As I reflect upon General Mundy's life and his 
service, I am reminded that we are a free people because good men and 
women have willingly set aside differences to fight for that, which 
binds us together as fellow Americans.
  General Mundy inspired many of us to serve, including his two sons, 
Brigadier General Carl Mundy III and Colonel Timothy Mundy, both of 
whom are on Active Duty as United States Marines.
  So I join my fellow marines especially, including my father, Ike, and 
grateful Americans across our country, in expressing heartfelt 
condolences to the Mundy family.
  It is with eternal gratitude and respect that I will offer a final 
hand salute in tribute and in memory to the 30th Commandant of the 
United States Marine Corps, an American patriot whom I was so fortunate 
to count as my friend.
  General Carl E. Mundy, Jr., United States Marine Corps, mission 
accomplished, sir.
  Semper fidelis.

                          ____________________