Woodbury County

Pfc. Francis K. "Bud" Montagne

 

 

“BUD’ MONTAGNE DIES OF WOUNDS
Marine Corps Private Injured in Action on Iwo Jima

Pfc. Francis K. (“Bud”) Montagne, Marine Corps, son of Mrs. Loretta Montagne, Kansas City, Mo., and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Beaubien, 1002 Nebraska street, died March 6 on Iwo Jima of wounds received in action there.

His mother Thursday received official notification from the War Department in a telegram stating that additional information was to follow by letter.

Pvt. Montagne was born October 16, 1925, at Jefferson, S.D.  He and his mother made their home with his grandparents here from his early childhood.  He attended Cathedral school and was graduated from Trinity high school in May, 1942. He worked at McKesson & Robbins, Inc., before his enlistment in the marine corps January 28, 1943.

Pvt. Montagne trained in San Diego and at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Cal.  He was at home for a Christmas furlough in 1943 and went overseas in August 1944. He was a marine raider. Relatives said they believe that the battle of Iwo Jima was the first action in which he took part.

Relatives of Pvt. Montagne had word that Cpl. James R. Enright, U.S.M.C., of Sioux City, also on Iwo Jima, had written to his mother, Mrs. James Enright, that he had visited the graves of Pfc. George Birmingham and of Bud Montagne in a military cemetery on Iwo Jima.  Cpl. Enright also wrote that he had visited with his friend and former classmate, Bud, three days before the latter’s death.

A requiem high mass will be sung by Rev. T. M. Parle at 9 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral of the Epiphany for Pfc. Montagne.  Mrs. Montagne arrived by airplane from Kansas City and is with her parents here.

Source: The Sioux City Journal, April 27, 1945 (photo included)

Francis K. “Bud” Montagne is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Sioux City, IA.

Source: ancestry.com