Jack C. Montgomery, who won the Medal of Honor by storming three German positions in the Battle of Anzio in World War II, died June 11 in Muskogee, Okla. He was 84.
Two hours before dawn on Feb. 22, 1944, in pitched fighting near the small town of Padiglione, Italy, Mr. 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.
Mr. Montgomery, a lieutenant, grabbed an M-1 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.
Mr. 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 left the unit to go to college but when war broke out, he enlisted again.
He saw action in Sicily as a platoon sergeant and then received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant.
