LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As American flags are lowered to half-staff this Memorial Day, one Kentucky family is honoring a loved one whose sacrifice is felt every single day — not just on holidays.
It’s been nearly two decades since U.S. Army Maj. Michael Mundell was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Jan. 5, 2007. But for his family, the loss is as present as ever.
“He left on Father’s Day 2006,” said Audrey Mundell, his widow. “He was supposed to come home at Christmas of 2006, but he traded spots with somebody so that he could come to my daughter Erica’s graduation in May. He promised. He said, ‘I’ll be there if I have to come straight from the plane to the field.’ And then he got killed in January and, of course, didn’t make it.”
Audrey and Michael were married for 21 years. Now, she lives with the weight of that unfinished promise and the enduring legacy of a husband, father and soldier.
Over the years, Audrey said her grief has changed — not as constant as it once was — but still sharp during family milestones.
“A graduation, a marriage, birth,” she said. “I just recently had a new grandson two weeks ago, and I’ve lamented how I wish you were here to see him.”
Maj. Mundell never got the chance to meet any of his six grandchildren, but they know exactly who he was.
“When these were little, they’d point to him and say, ‘Papa Mike. Papa Mike,’” Audrey said. “So yes, they know who he is. We talk about him.”
Audrey often reminds the grandchildren that the freedom they enjoy came at a cost.
“I tell the grandkids, part of the reason we get to have certain days off and things like this is because your grandfather went to war and fought for freedom — and for other people’s freedom.”
She says Maj. Mundell “loved his country, loved the military, and he loved his family.” After his death, she eventually found a new path in real estate, motivated by a desire to help others.
“I thought I need to do something where I can maybe help others. And this came up and seemed the perfect thing,” she said. “I think he would have wanted us to do that. He wanted us all to carry on and be happy.”
Their daughter Erica Grosso was just weeks from turning 18 when her father was killed.
“He died in January, and I turned 18 in February,” she recalled. “I remember not the day at school, but I remember coming home because I had stayed after school. It was a Friday, and I remember almost every second.”
Now 36, Erica has children of her own and often sees glimpses of her father in them.
“Sometimes my children will pull a face or look at me in a certain way. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my dad looking at me right now,’” she said. “It makes me sad that he’s missing out on what a great life I’ve built with my husband and our family.”
She carries with her the values he instilled — courage, integrity and standing up for what’s right.
“He said, even if it’s not popular, even if it’s not what everybody else thinks, you still need to stand up for how you feel — your morals, your ethics — and always ask questions,” Erica said. “I know I wouldn’t be the person I am without my dad.”
Michael Mundell’s story was featured in a project called Voices of the Fallen. Audrey said he was a soldier from the time he was a child.
“He was a military man through and through. His parents — my in-laws — always told me that he wanted to be a soldier from the time he was three years old.”
As this Memorial Day arrives, Audrey and her family continue to speak his name and share his story, ensuring that Maj. Mundell’s sacrifice — and the life he lived — are never forgotten.
“He just wanted to make sure we were happy and taken care of,” Audrey said. “He was a hero. And we still feel him everywhere.”
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