The public is invited to join the Marine Corps League on National Medal of Honor Day, Tuesday March 25, 2025 at 4pm, to commemorate Medal of Honor recipients from Northeast Oklahoma.
The celebration will take place at PFC Albert E. Schwab Hall (airport terminal main entrance, upper level). Activities will include a reading of the Medal of Honor Citations, a solemn wreath-laying at the Schwab statute, military Color Guard, rifle salute, and the playing of Taps.
The Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military honor, was awarded to the following service members from Northeast Oklahoma:
US Marine Private First Class Albert E. Schwab (posthumously)
US Army Private First Class John Reese Jr. (posthumously)
US Army Specialist Fourth Class Donald Sloat (posthumously)
US Army Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Childers
US Army First Lieutenant Jack C. Montgomery
Albert E. Schwab graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1938 and was inducted into the Marine Corps on 12 May 1944, and then attended Marine boot camp training at Camp Pendleton. After boot camp he joined the 1st Marine Division and was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines.
John N. Reese Jr. graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1941 and joined the Army in 1942. He was assigned to the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division in the Philippines.
Donald Sloat graduated from Coweta High School in 1967 and then attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. He joined the Army on March 19, 1969, and was assigned to 3rd Platoon, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division.
Ernest Childers, a Muscogee Creek citizen, graduated from the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in north-central Oklahoma. In 1937, Childers joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard and was assigned to the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.[3] After the U.S. entry into World War II, he was sent to Europe and by September 22, 1943, he was a second lieutenant serving with 45th Infantry Division, 180th Infantry Regiment, in Italy.
Jack C. Montgomery, a Cherokee citizen, attended Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Northern Oklahoma before transferring to Carnegie High School where he graduated in 1936. He enrolled at Bacone College and enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard. In 1938, Montgomery transferred to Redlands University in California. He returned to Oklahoma in 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he reenlisted in the Army and served with his old unit, the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, through the duration of World War II.
The Color Guard will be provided by the Bixby High School JROTC and the 21 Gun Rifle Salute will be provided by the Sapulpa High School JROTC.
Ceremony attendees can park in short-term parking on the top level of the airport parking garage. Coupons will be available at the event to allow for parking at no charge.
"The country that forgets its heroes is soon forgotten."
