Generals who rose from the ranks of the 14th Infantry

 

General Paul A. Mayo

(Awaiting Official Bio)

 

Recollections of Lester Cundiff, Col. AUS, (Ret.):

    Captain Paul A. Mayo was Executive Officer of Company M, 14th Infantry Regiment in 1935-36.  I was his orderly (dog-robber) during 1936 maneuvers.  He later became Major General and Chief of Finance.
    I met him again in 1961 at Fort Lee, VA, and had the opportunity to talk a bit about the 14th in Panama.

The Company Officers of Co. "M" 1Lt. J.K. Dickey, Cpt. J.B. Willis. 1Lt. Paul A. Mayo Lt. Paul A. Mayo mounted on "Dopey Dan"

 

MG Paul A. Mayo and LTC Lester B. Cundiff in 1961, looking at a 1936 picture of Co. M, 14th Inf., Ft. Davis, CZ, in which Mayo was a 1st Lt. and Cundiff was a Private. Pvt Cundiff was Lt. Mayo's Orderly during the 1936 Panama Canal Department Maneuvers on the Pacific Side of the Isthmus.

 

Memories of a Favorite Uncle

     General Mayo was my mother's brother... my uncle.  Their mother (my grandmother) was Della Mayo.  My uncle... Paul's father, Coakley B. Mayo... died in 1912.  Paul was one of 8 children.  My grandmother at that time placed five of the children (Paul & my mother, Mary) in the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Home in Knightstown, Indiana... which at this time is under threat of closure due to hard times.  It was several years ago that my mother (now deceased) visited the Soldiers and Sailors Home and in one of their main hallways hung a picture of General Mayo.  If I remember right, there is also an Army Reserve Center in (I believe) either Winchester or Winfall, Indiana, that is named the Mayo Armory.

     My uncle, I believe, never knew a stranger.  I spent a summer with him when he was stationed at Ft. Sheridan and that was a great time.  He was also quite an accomplished magician and loved to entertain.  I recall when he was in the Pentagon and I was just getting out of the US Navy at Norfolk, Va..  I was a lowly enlisted man and I went up to Arlington, Va., to visit my cousin (Paul's daughter) and she took me to see her father... my uncle.  He walked me around and introduced me to a lot of brass... I about wore my arm out saluting!

     My mother worked for him as his secretary when he was Commanding Officer at Ft. Harrison (Finance Center) in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I remember at one time he was approached about running for a political office, but he turned it down.

     I loved my uncle.  He was truly a great guy and I miss him.  He is buried at Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas.

Sincerely,
Dwight G. Mills Jr.
18 January, 2009




Thanks to Terry Bender, 1/14th Inf, for collecting and making this information available and for his dedicated efforts to preserve the history of the 14th Infantry Regiment.

Acknowledgements:
Generals who rose from the ranks of the 14th Infantry:  General Paul A. Mayo
Copyright © 2013  14th Infantry Regiment Association
Last modified: January 20, 2013