Jack Montgomery

Born: July 23, 1917, near Long, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma

Education: Cushing, Oklahoma; Chilocco Indian School, Chilocco, Oklahoma; Carnegie, Oklahoma; Bacone Junior College, Muskogee, Oklahoma; University of Redlands, Redlands, CA.

Service Record: Citizens Military Training Camp, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1934; enlisted 45th Div., Oklahoma NG, 1937; re-enlisted, 1940, 1941. Saw combat in Sicily and Italy. Received battlefield commission as 2 Lt., 1943. Discharged 1945.

Awards: Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Purple Heart with Cluster, Italian Cross of Valor, Oklahoma Distinguished Service Cross.

For action above and beyond the call of duty on February 22, 1944, Jack Montgomery received the Medal of Honor. The Citation reads:

Two hours before daybreak a strong force of enemy infantry established themselves in three echelons at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 300 yards respectively, in front of the rifle platoon commanded by Lieutenant Montgomery….Seizing an M-I rifle and several hand grenades, Lieutenant Montgomery crawled up a ditch to within hand grenade range of the enemy…he killed eight of the enemy, and captured the remaining four. Returning to his platoon he called for artillery fire on a house in and around which he suspected that the majority of the enemy had entrenched themselves. Arming himself with a carbine, he proceeded along the shallow ditch as withering fire from the riflemen and machine gunners in the second position was concentrated on him. He attacked this position with such fury that seven of the enemy surrendered to him and both machine guns were silenced. Three German dead were found in the vicinity later that morning. Lieutenant Montgomery continued boldly toward the house, 300 yards from his platoon position…When the artillery barrage had lifted, Lieutenant Montgomery ran fearlessly toward the strongly defended position…Lieutenant Montgomery, unafraid of treacherous snipers, exposed himself daringly to assemble the surrendering enemy and send them to the rear. His fearless, aggressive, and intrepid actions that morning accounted for a total of eleven enemy dead, thirty –two prisoners, and an unknown number of wounded. That night, while aiding an adjacent unit to repulse a counter attack, he was struck by mortar fragments, and seriously wounded. The selflessness and courage exhibited by Lieutenant Montgomery in alone attacking three strong enemy positions inspired his men to a degree beyond estimation.

The Medal of Honor was presented to Jack in 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.