Mickey Montalbano was born in 1927 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but from the time he was one year old, he lived in Baton Rouge. An only child until he was ten, Montalbano said he had a happy childhood, regardless of the Great Depression. Montalbano's father ran a grocery store, owned and operated a fleet of big trucks and eventually established a major grocery store chain. Montalbano was driving an 18-wheeler by the time he was 12. The hostilities in Europe and Japan were discussed in his home, but Montalbano was too young to worry at the time. But by the time he graduated from high school in 1944, everybody was contributing to the war effort. Although he was only 17, he went with several of his friends to New Orleans and enlisted in the Navy. He took a train to boot camp in San Diego, California, and then went to Coronado, California to learn to operate a Higgins boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP]. His parents drove to California to visit him while he was in training there, and returned to see him off from San Francisco when he shipped out for overseas.

The war in the Pacific was still raging when Mickey Montalbano shipped out on the USS Jason (AR-8). He stopped in Hawaii, then traveled to several of the islands that had been secured, finally arriving at Okinawa. Montalbano said that combat on Okinawa was "bad," with Kamikazes flying over like "bumblebees." The enemy aircraft were targeting the big boats, however, and Montalbano's smaller ship was spared. He wrote his mother every day, and she devised a code by which she would know where he was in the world at all times. For the invasion of Okinawa, Montalbano drove landing craft carrying 36 men with packages and dropped them off on the beach. He remembers making three landings, and on the fourth he broached the boat and went in, unarmed, with the troops. He went through combat unharmed, but tells the tale of weathering one of the world's worst typhoons while he was stationed there. He said there were buildings in the air, as well as airplanes "without pilots." The soldiers' tents were blown away, and in attempting to take cover in a cave, Montalbano was blown about a hundred feet, and when he gained ground, he was scraped up and had sustained further bruises from the six cans of K-rations he was carrying in his pockets. He tumbled into a cave, where his food was confiscated, and lived without provisions until the storm abated. A few days later, he was shipped out toward Nagasaki, but the atomic bombs were dropped and the war was over. Montalbano did not have enough points for discharge, so he was sent to China.

On arrival in Tsingtao, China, Mickey Montalbano was carrying garbage from the ship to the docks. One day, while he was sitting around reading the hundred or so letters that had stacked up while he was in transit, an officer came by and offered him a job as a bartender. Montalbano knew how to mix a drink, but nothing about bartending, and he was only 18 years old. Nevertheless, he went ashore and got the job in the officers club where he supervised 55 Chinese, four young Americans and one Englishman. Montalbano spent one full year on the job and got to know everybody there. He said he enjoyed mixing with people, and had freedom to go out and explore. He found relations with the local Chinese population very good. When he left, there were 500 people there to tell him goodbye. On the ship he was put in charge of the captain's gig [Annotator's Note: a small boat used on ships as the captain's water taxi]. The ship sailed for Hawaii and home. Montalbano was happy to get back to the United States, and, feeling he had done his duty, declined the offer to stay in the reserves.

Mickey Montalbano attended Louisiana State University [Annotator's Note: in Baton Rouge, Louisiana] on the G.I. Bill, but left college after about a year and a half to help with his father's business. He lived with his parents and gradually took over the family business. When he was 24, he married a 17 year old girl that he had waited for since her early teens. By the time she was 23, they had five children. With his younger brother, Montalbano became involved in the local music scene, holding dances and bringing in famous acts such as Ray Charles, James Brown and Fats Domino for the kids in the CYO [Annotator's Note: Catholic Youth Organization]. Montalbano built a space for his brother's endeavors in one of his warehouses, and then advanced to the operation of a club called the Golden Slipper, hosting big stars such as Jimi Hendrix and Etta James. During one of his biggest events, he learned of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and had to go on with the show. Coincidentally, on the anniversary of that tragedy, Montalbano and his brother S.J., had the number one hit on the record charts with "I'm Leaving It Up To You."

Mickey Montalbano has many good memories of his years in the Navy, and he said that he has never regretted even one day of serving. His most memorable events of the war took place on Okinawa, the invasion and the typhoon. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Montalbano was "happy," and felt it was what had to be done. Montalbano served in the armed forces because he was young, full of fire and wanted to participate. He said he was treated well and awarded justly. He is still involved with veterans, and is on the museum board of the USS Kidd (DD-661). He feels that the United States' participation in the war won friends across the world. He claims The National WWII Museum recognizes and treats the veterans well, and is effective in telling the story of the war. Montalbano thinks the history needs to be told.