1LT Jack Montgomery, of the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th “Thunderbird” Division was awarded the Medal of Honor for Gallantry near Nettuno, Italy. He was the high school classmate of Ernest Childers who was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry with the 180th Infantry Regiment near Oliveta Citra, Italy. Montgomery was a Cherokee Indian. (See this website, site Oliveta Citra for more on Ernest Childers) The June 12, 2002 New York Times Obituary well sums up Jack Montgomery’s life and actions: Jack C. Montgomery, who won the Medal of Honor by storming three German positions in the Battle of Anzio in World War II, died on June 11{2002} in Muskogee, Okla. He was 84. Two hours before dawn on Feb. 22, 1944, in pitched fighting near the small town of Padiglione, Italy, Lieutenant Montgomery's platoon faced three enemy positions, at 50 yards away, 100 yards and 300 yards. The closest had four machine guns and one mortar and threatened the immediate security of the platoon. He grabbed an M1 rifle and several hand grenades and left his platoon behind a stone wall. According to his award citation, he crawled up a ditch to within hand-grenade range of the enemy. ''Then climbing boldly onto a little mound, he fired his rifle and threw his grenades so accurately that he killed eight of the enemy and captured the remaining four,'' the official account said. He returned to his platoon and called for artillery fire on a house, the most distant enemy position. He then attacked the second position, killing three Germans and capturing seven. By the time he approached the house, it was daylight, but he ''ran fearlessly'' toward the position the citation said. His actions accounted for 11 dead, 32 prisoners and an unknown number of wounded. Jack Cleveland Montgomery was born near Long, Okla., on July 23, 1917. He was part Cherokee and attended public and Indian schools. He enrolled in what was then Bacone Junior College, founded to educate Indians. As a student there, he enlisted in Company I, 180th Infantry of the 45th Division of the Oklahoma National Guard. The division included Indians from more than 50 tribes and was integrated at a time when blacks and Asians were in segregated units. Its symbol was a Thunderbird, and members won eight Medals of Honor in World War II. Mr. Montgomery, a star running back on the football field, left the unit to accept a scholarship to the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif., where he earned a physical education degree. When he returned to Oklahoma, the 45th Division was being mobilized. Mr. Montgomery re-enlisted and served for the required year. The unit trained at Fort Sill, Okla. He was discharged as a sergeant in September 1941. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Montgomery enlisted again. He found himself going to war with friends from Bacone, which is now a four-year college. ''I knew them from the days when we'd go out and raise hell in the beer joint and things like that,'' he said in an interview with The Sunday Oklahoman in 1994. ''All of them were good soldiers, dependable,'' he said. ''If you went forward and said to somebody, 'Cover me,' you never looked back.'' He saw action in Sicily as a platoon sergeant, and received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant shortly before participating in the invasion of Salerno. On Jan. 22, 1944, he took part in another landing in Italy, this one near Anzio. That invasion cost the Allies more than 72,000 casualties, nearly five times the number suffered at Normandy. Though the invasion had stalled, by the last week in February, Allied troops were vigorously retaliating. ''The swift cutting edge of the greatest German onslaught in the Italian campaign has been blunted and stopped by the Allies on the beachhead below Rome,'' The New York Times reported on Feb. 22, the day Lieutenant Montgomery performed his heroics. That night, while aiding another unit, he was hit by mortar fragments and seriously wounded. In addition to the Medal of Honor (one of 22 awarded for the Anzio fighting), he earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart with Cluster. After the war, Mr. Montgomery worked for the Veterans Administration in Muskogee and nearby towns. One day, the woman he was dating noticed something hanging on his office wall. ''Oh, that's just something I did back during the war,'' he said of his Medal of Honor, mentioning it for the first time. The woman, Joyce Magness, became his wife, and survives him, as do his sisters, Syble Claymore of Marksville, S.D., Hazel Johnson of Chickasha, Okla., and Okemah Arey of Tulsa. Mr. Montgomery loved fishing, watching wildlife and eating hamburgers with friends. His modesty was legendary. ''I was just doing the job I was supposed to be doing,'' he said. ''It just happened that I got lucky.'' MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 22 February 1944, near Padiglione, Italy. Two hours before daybreak a strong force of enemy infantry established themselves in 3 echelons at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 300 yards respectively, in front of the rifle platoons commanded by 1st Lt. Montgomery. The closest position, consisting of 4 machineguns and 1 mortar, threatened the immediate security of the platoon position. Seizing an M1 rifle and several hand grenades, 1st Lt. Montgomery crawled up a ditch to within hand grenade range of the enemy. Then climbing boldly onto a little mound, he fired his rifle and threw his grenades so accurately that he killed 8 of the enemy and captured the remaining 4. 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 7 of the enemy surrendered to him, and both machineguns were silenced. Three German dead were found in the vicinity later that morning. 1st Lt. Montgomery continued boldly toward the house, 300 yards from his platoon position. It was now daylight, and the enemy observation was excellent across the flat open terrain which led to 1st Lt. Montgomery's objective. When the artillery barrage had lifted, 1st Lt. Montgomery ran fearlessly toward the strongly defended position. As the enemy started streaming out of the house, 1st Lt. Montgomery unafraid of treacherous snipers, expose 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 11 enemy dead, 32 prisoners, and an unknown number of wounded. That night, while aiding an adjacent unit to repulse a counterattack, he was struck by mortar fragments, and seriously wounded. The selflessness and courage exhibited by 1st Lt. Montgomery in alone attacking 3 strong enemy positions inspired his men to a degree beyond estimation.