A life-size bronze statue of Mississippi State University graduate and former Rep. G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery will be unveiled during a public ceremony May 6. The statue will be located between Allen and McCool halls overlooking the Drill Field.
Montgomery is scheduled to attend the ceremony along with sculptor Tracy H. Sugg and Rep. Chip Pickering, who succeeded Montgomery as the 3rd District congressman of Mississippi. Former Student Association President Adam Telle and MSU President Charles Lee will speak at the event.
Bill Kibler, vice president for student affairs, said students conceived the project and the Student Association raised the funds required to erect the statue.
Telle said Montgomery always gave back to MSU as well as Mississippi and the United States.
Montgomery is “just a true American hero who learned the skills he needed for the world at Mississippi State,” Telle said.
Thomas Gregory, president of the Stennis-Montgomery Association-which draws part of its name from Montgomery-said it is time for Montgomery to be honored on campus.
“We owe a great deal of gratitude to him, and I think the statue will be a great reminder of his service at Mississippi State University,” Gregory said.
While attending MSU, Montgomery served as president of the Student Association and was elected Mr. Mississippi State.
He served in the military for three decades, including active duty in World War II and the Korean War, earning him the title of Mr. Veteran on Capitol Hill.
Montgomery was the author of the 1988 Montgomery G.I. Bill, legislation that extended benefits of the original 1947 G.I. Bill.
Kibler said Montgomery has been very supportive of MSU through the years.
“We have a Sonny Montgomery endowed scholarship program here that has brought lots of scholarship money to the university that has helped students directly in his name,” he said.