There he stood in his dress greens, a diminutive man with close-cropped hair. Around him walked hundreds of well-dressed civilians there to pay their respects to a man he considered a brother — and who felt the same about him.

Friends call him “Stump.” People don’t call him “sir” because he works for a living. So many here know him and are drawn to him for a hearty handshake, a smile and his storehouse of memories of the man in the coffin up front.

But this grizzled old soldier kept his eyes — moist and red-rimmed — looking straight ahead at the scene before him.

The wake Monday night for the late U.S. Rep. G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery had all the military trappings that he loved and that the old soldier deserved. The funeral bier was stark, his coffin covered by Old Glory and under the watchful eyes of a military honor guard.

The C-17 Globemaster transport plane that bears his name — “The Spirit of G.V. ‘Sonny’ Montgomery” — was parked outside the open door of the cavernous hangar at the Mississippi Air National Guard base at Key Field. Near the casket was a large painting of Montgomery in his congressional prime, grinning that easy grin that made almost everyone he encountered feel like an old and trusted friend.

Stands of flowers were there from across the country sent by the famous and the powerful — and likewise from the meek and quiet among his 40-year constituents in his old Mississippi Senate district in Meridian.

On Tuesday, Montgomery would be remembered in a private Christian funeral service attended by family, close friends and congressional colleagues.

Former President George H.W. Bush was among the dignitaries. Montgomery spent many holidays with the Bush family in Kennebunkport, Maine, or at the Camp David presidential retreat.

The Bushes spoke of Montgomery as if he were a member of the family. Former first lady Barbara Bush would share her memories at the public memorial service at the grand old Temple Theatre in downtown Meridian. Montgomery would later be interred at Magnolia Cemetery, already the resting place of three other Mississippi congressmen.

Yet despite the power and influence that Montgomery wielded over an unblemished 30-year congressional career, Montgomery’s heart was never far from the soldiers he knew and loved, soldiers like Sgt. Maj. William R. “Stump” Jones of Lena.

Montgomery served in the Army and Mississippi Army National Guard for 35 years. He was a lieutenant in the 12th Armored Division in Europe during World War II, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He was mobilized as an Army Guard officer with the 31st Infantry Division for the Korean War and remained on active duty until 1952. He retired from the Mississippi Guard as a major general in 1980.

“Congressman ‘Sonny’ Montgomery’s contributions to the men and women of the National Guard and the other military services are beyond measure,” said Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. “He did so many things to help define and shape our Guard force that enabled us to transform from a strategic reserve into an operational entity and equal partner with the other military services for the 21st century’s global war on terrorism.”

Jones is five months from his military retirement. He’s forgotten more about soldiering than most will ever know. Montgomery loved “Stump,” and the sergeant major’s admiration and respect for the congressman was obvious.

A photographer, “Stump” was along for the ride when Montgomery was in the field with Mississippi Guardsmen. He knew better than most why they called Montgomery “Mr. National Guard” and “Mr. Veteran.”

“He was The Man,” Jones said softly at Montgomery’s wake. “There won’t come another like him, either.”

In public, it was “Congressman” and “Sgt. Major.”

In private, it was “Sonny” and “Stump.”

Monday night, it was one old soldier saying a sad goodbye to another.



Sid Salter of Forest is Perspective editor of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. His e-mail address is ssalter@clarionledger.com.