Gillespie V. (Sonny) MONTGOMERY, Congress, MS (1920-2006)

MONTGOMERY, Gillespie V. (Sonny), a Representative from Mississippi; born in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Miss., August 5, 1920; attended Mississippi State University; owner, Montgomery Insurance Agency, Meridian, Miss.; vice president, Greater Mississippi Life Insurance Co., Meridian, Miss.; served during the Second World War in the European Theater; received Bronze Star, European Theater Ribbon, Commendation Ribbon; recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict in 1951 with Thirty-first Dixie Division; recipient of Mississippi Magnolia Medal; retired major general in Mississippi National Guard; past president of Mississippi National Guard Association, former member of Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board; Mississippi State senate representing Lauderdale County, 1956-1966; elected as a Democrat to the Ninetieth and to the fourteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1967-January 3, 1997); chairman, Select Committee on Military Involvement in Southeast Asia (Ninety-first Congress), Select Committee on Missing in Action in Southeast Asia (Ninety-fourth Congress), Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (Ninety-seventh through One Hundred Third Congresses); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9, 2005; died on May 12, 2006, in Meridian, Miss; interment in Magnolia Cemetery, Meridian, Miss.

Bibliography

Montgomery, G. V., with Michael B. Ballard and Craig S. Piper. Sonny Montgomery: The Veteran’s Champion. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2003.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present