[2] A 1943 Reserve Officers' Training Corps graduate, Gillespie was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.

Prentiss Walker, the first Republican elected to either house of Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction, had given up the seat after one term to run for the United States Senate against James O.

Observers assumed that Montgomery would be succeeded by a Republican after he retired, given the crossover of conservative white voters from the Democratic Party to the GOP in the second half of the 20th century.

Bill of Rights that gives members of the service money to pay for college and was a lead sponsor in establishing the Veterans Affairs cabinet-level position.

He also wanted to reverse the Department of Defense's declining recruitment efforts, which had dropped sharply in the 1980s, and improve the overall quality of the volunteers.

Nearly half of those recruited during that time lacked high-school diplomas and the basic skills needed in a modern military.

Congressman Montgomery saw that educational shortfall as a direct threat to America's military readiness and national security.

[10] Subsequent scientific studies made connections between Agent Orange and Vietnam Veterans illnesses and the increased birth defects of their children.

On September 13, 1988, Montgomery became the first congressman to lead the U.S. House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as a permanent part of its daily and morning business operations.

On November 10, 2005, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian honor, by President George W. Bush.