Lt Dennis Munden

I came home from Vietnam in September of 1967 and was stationed at Fort Stewart , Georgia where I was assigned to Plans and Operations, Logistics, G-4.  In December of 1968, at my request, I was released from active duty and returned to my home in Morehead City , North Carolina , where I joined my father and brother in the Funeral Business.  I obtained my funeral license and worked in the family business for three years and when I came to realize that was not how I wanted to spend my life.  Married, and with two kids, I decided I wanted to go back to college.  

Prior to going in the Army, I had spent three years as a cadet at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston , SC ; I left school one-step ahead of flunking out.  I wanted to go back to The Citadel and get a degree with a major in history and a minor in education.  Because of the Vietnam War enrollment was down and they were accepting veterans as day students.  I applied and was given a provisional acceptance, ie., I had to pull my GPR up.  In the summer of 1973 I graduated only ten years behind my original class.  I went on to complete my Masters and then returned to Morehead City with my wife and now three children.  I taught in a middle school for a few years and then bought a Garden Center.  

My life became very stable and I was in the garden center business for 25 years.  I also operated a nursery and landscaping business.  During the years I was active in a local church and went on a number of home and overseas missions trips building churches and medical stations in third world countries.  In 1997 tragedy struck and my business burned completely to the ground.  I had just rebuilt the store and things were beginning to go well when in 2001 a hurricane struck and a tornado in the hurricane hit my nursery operation and destroyed it.  I felt it was time to change professions.  

I decided to go back to my first love, teaching.  I have been teaching 6^th Grade Social Studies for the last seven years.  I can truly say that I love what I am doing and I have never dreaded going to work one single day.  I have wondered at the end of few days, “What in the heck am I doing here?”  But I got over that feeling rather quickly.  

I have been married 45 years to the same wonderful lady, Alexis Schuyler Munden.  We have two sons, a daughter and 6 grandchildren.  

One of the highlights in recent years was hooking up with (Lt) Ed Thomas (fellow FO in Nam ) and going to the Dominican Republic to help build a church.  It was like being back in ‘ Nam because we were in the mountains and had to hike the last five miles with our backpacks and some of our equipment.  We did not have running water or electricity.  We also had to camp.  Truth is, I think the food was better in ‘ Nam .  (Sorry Ed!)  The work was hard but the blessings were greater.  Just for information, Ed is planning a trip to Vietnam in 2010 to build a church in the area where we served.   If interested, contact Ed.

Dennis and his wife Alexis reside in Morehead City , NC .

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