Gilbert Bundy (1911 – November 21, 1955) was an American cartoonist and illustrator, particularly forEsquire,Life,Judge, andThe Saturday Evening Post magazines. He killed himself on the 12th anniversary of a deeply traumatic experience as a war artist in theBattle of Tarawa.
Bundy was born inCentralia, Illinois.[1] His father was a scout for an oil company, so they lived in several oil boom towns across Oklahoma, with Bundy finishing high school inWinfield, Kansas.[1][2]
Bundy's career started in Kansas City, working for an engraving company, and then he moved to New York City in 1929, to draw cartoons forLife andJudge magazines.[1][2] Bundy's "stylish character studies helped establishEsquire magazine", which began publishing in 1933.[3] According to Martin Plimmer, "Bundy's work was painstakingly researched, the result of numerous life studies, the final version being drawn from memory to add spontaneity."[3]
In the Second World War, Bundy was a volunteerwar artist in the South Pacific, working forHearst newspapers andKing Features Syndicate.[2][4]
On November 21, 1943, Bundy was on a smalllanding craft during the amphibious landing in theBattle of Tarawa, when a Japanese shell exploded, leaving him trapped under four dead Marines.[4] The wrecked craft drifted onto a coral reef that was within range of Japanese gunners on the island, so Bundy had to hide beneath the bodies for the remainder of a long day, as enemy bullets and shells hit the craft or landed nearby.[4] Once night fell, he swam away through shark-infested waters, and as Hearst newspapers reported, "He was believed dead for three days. His reappearance startled his Marine mates."[4]
Bundy was sent home to the US to recuperate, and returned to painting illustrations for "light-hearted romantic stories" forThe Saturday Evening Post and other magazines, but he "remained haunted by his wartime experience."[4]
On November 21, 1955, on the anniversary of his Tarawa trauma, he killed himself in his apartment in New York City'sHotel Le Marquis; "his body was found hanging by several neckties from a door hinge", and police determined it was a suicide.[2][4][5][6]
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