Photo By Elizabeth Fraser | U.S. Space Force Col. retired Nicholas Montalto receives the U.S. flag from the...... read more read more
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Janice Montalto wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself. With her father serving in the U.S. Navy, her brother serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, and the war in Vietnam still raging, she volunteered for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on Sept. 19, 1972.
Created during World War II to bring women into the all-male Army, the WAC placed women in noncombat roles to free men for combat duty. It replaced the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), which had no military status. The WAC was part of the Army through the Korean War and Vietnam War until the Army disbanded the Corps in 1978 to better assimilate women into the ranks.
Montalto made the most of her WAC career. Within two months of joining, she received an accelerated advancement to the rank of private E-2. She was also an honor graduate from her Advanced Individual Training class and later became one of the first women to serve in the Army’s Air Defense Artillery branch.
As she rose in rank to sergeant, the Army gave her more responsibility and recognized her skills and devotion to duty. In April 1973, she was put in charge of WAC barracks. In May of 1976, she earned the Soldier of the Year award for the 69th Air Defense Artillery Group. Two months later, she earned the Army Commendation Medal for “consistent exceptional performance, selflessness and devotion to duty.”
“She said she had to do it better than everybody else to prove that she could be in the positions that she was in,” her son, U.S. Space Force Col. (Ret.) Nicholas Montalto, said. “Her ability to accelerate through the ranks was pretty tremendous.”
During a tour of West Germany, Montalto met a sergeant named Jack and fell in love. They married on Sept. 2, 1976, a month after she departed from the WAC, and settled in Wilmington, Massachusetts, where they had three children: twins Nicholas and Michelle, and Jack Jr.
Montalto raised her children with the skills she had learned in the Army. “My friends called her ‘Sarge,’” Michelle Montalto said. She attended her children’s sporting events and band performances, often shouting from the sidelines or following alongside the marching band at parades. “She did a lot of fun things with us,” Michelle added.
When Jack Sr. was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 20, 1994, Montalto knew she wanted to eventually join him. On a warm Aug. 14, 2026, Montalto’s children and extended family gathered in Section 60 to bid their mother a final goodbye. U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Michael Palmer told the family that Montalto had “faithfully and honorably served her nation, to include the Vietnam era.”
After a firing party fired three volleys and a bugler sounded Taps, Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Morrison presented a tri-folded flag to Col. Montalto. “It’s the fabric of the nation,” Montalto later said of the flag, “so it carries a lot of weight.”
After the service, Montalto’s three children gathered to remember their mother. They spoke about her parenting and character, but the conversation returned to her time in uniform. “She felt the duty to serve,” Col. Montalto said, “and she was proud of being in the Women’s Army Corps.”
| Date Taken: | 09.02.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2026 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 573766 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Women’s Army Corps Sergeant Inspired by her Family’s Legacy to Serve, by Kevin Hymel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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