Hugh Lee Grundy - "Playboys, PRINCESSES and spy's"
An American Hero
Hugh Grundy was the Perfect Front Hugh L. Grundy (1916-2011), a Washington County native, is little recognized for his 20th century role in U.S. history, but in this discretion reflects his contribution. Grundy was the president of Air America (1940s-1970s), a C.I.A.- owned operation flying secret intelligence missions and delivering supplies for Anti-Communist fighters to parts of Southeast Asia during a time when the U.S. was publicly staying out of the Vietnam conflict. In addition to being this covert side for the C.I.A., Air America was also disguised as a private airline company with offices based in Taiwan.
As the president of Air America, Grundy was in charge of running a profitable private airline company whose income also supported classified C.I.A. missions. The dual existence was so secretive, Grundy’s wife, Frankie, didn’t find out about the more dangerous side of her husband’s job until the Congress and the C.I.A. honored him with the "Medal of Honor" in 2001. Air America pilots were known for their sense of adventure and daredevil talent, often risking equipment and life to covertly transport supplies and information throughout this region
until the U.S. became officially involved in the Vietnam Conflict in 1965.
From Washington County to Southeast Asia
Hugh Lee Grundy, earned his pilot's license at Louisville's Bowman Field. He attended Curtis Wright Institute of Aeronautics and Plosser Flying School, and occasionally helped Howard Hughes with his Boeing 307 and his famous Speed Holder.
In 1941 Grundy went to Africa with Pan American, supposedly to establish a commercial air route but actually to build an Allied supply route. After service in the Army Air Corps, he worked with China National Aviation Corporation in Shanghai and was chief engineer when CNAC's Chinese management fled before the Communists.
American officials encouraged Grundy to remain with CNAC, but he joined Chennault's Civil Air Transport. From 1954 to 1976 he served simultaneously as president of CAT, of the CIA's Air America and of Air Asia. He also managed Pacific operations of Southern Air Transport.
He commanded over 10,000 men and women who served America's objectives (either openly or covertly) in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. He served 27 years in China, retiring from Air America in 1976. He was subsequently senior vice president and later a director of Southern Air Transport.
For 40 years, Hugh Grundy served America with dedication and discretion. Only when he was honored by the Congress and the CIA in 2001 with the "Medal of Honor" did his wife Frankie realize his true role. She had accompanied him throughout his career, enduring war and rebellion, thinking he was simply an aviation executive.
In fact, he was an invaluable - but secret - asset to America.
The Grundy's love for British Cars
Grundy’s love of aviation was equaled by his love of British Cars and car racing. With access to his aviation shops and a skilled workforce, it wasn't hard to maintain. Beside his MG TC purchased in Hong Kong in 1949, he purchased a 1956 Austin Healey 100/4 in Taiwan in 1957, that he unlike the MG TC, modified with a Sebring engine for racing.
Grundy was a licensed racing driver and he entered races including the Macau Grand Prix held in Portuguese-controlled Macao. The Macau Grand Prix was a sports car event until 1961. Unfortunately, by the time he completed modifying his Healey, Grundy believed it was no longer competitive so he was content just touring the back roads of Taiwan in his Healey, as the MG had been shipped back to the US where it was stored in a special built crate, sitting on stilts and covered in vaseline. He returned to the United States in 1975 where he worked in senior aviation positions in retirement. Finally, in 1996, he came home to farm the Grundy Plantation in Springfield where his family had lived since 1780.
Fortunately Grundy kept like his MG TC his Healey and he also kept the original engine that was maintained as a spare. Grundy was proud of his British Cars. He was said to like to take them out on the nearby Bluegrass Parkway and let them fly.
Hugh Lee Grundy was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Museum Hall of Fame at AMK in 2003 for his service to his country and his many achievements in aviation. When he passed away in 2011 at the age of 95, he had just sold the MG TC, that he and Frankie had owned for 61 years to a good friend, Mr. Jim Snider, and the car that sat 43 years in a crate, was gently restored, and he bequeathed his Austin-Healey to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky.
