Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Community interest is building for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which will be celebrated locally in February, along with the honoring of Sgt. Ernest “Boots” Thomas and all World War II veterans.
Sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Association, American Legion Post 49, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 251, City of Monticello and Jefferson County Tourist Development Council, the
event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the “Boots” Thomas Veterans Memorial Park on West Washington Street.
As of the present, the list of speakers is still being developed, but one who has confirmed is Jennings Bunn, a docent who for some 15 years conducted guided tours of Iwo Jima and Guam. And a possibility is Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Governor, at least, has been invited, but he had yet to confirm as of this week, according to Troy Avera, one of the event's organizers.
Avera said efforts are also underway to have either the FAMU Marching 100 or the local high school band perform at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, he urges WWII veterans who plan to attend the event to notify the sponsors so that the former may be recognized during the ceremony. Veterans can do the notification by completing a form that asks for the participant's name, branch of service, dates of service, theatre of service and rank. The form can be gotten from Avera or any of the sponsoring groups.
“This is intended as a last hurrah for local World War II veterans, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s,” Avera said. “We want them to receive the community recognition they deserve.”
The notification form may also be used to provide information on deceased veterans, who will be recognized by way of a printed roll, if their numbers are too great. The form can also be used to order a brick with a veteran's name inscribed on its surface. The cost of the inscribed brick is $100.
Avera said if enough bricks are purchased, a new brick-paved area may be added to the Thomas Memorial Park. He said the idea is to expand the site and make it more representative of veterans in general and other wars, so that it truly becomes a veteran’s park.
Currently, the focus of the memorial is on local hero Thomas, who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.
The Battle of Iwo Jima, which lasted from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945, is recognized as one of the bloodiest in U.S. Marine history, resulting in the deaths of 6,821 Marines and 20,000-plus Japanese soldiers. The first Japanese Territory to fall in WWII, the tiny island thereafter served as a U.S. aircraft refueling station and a staging area for bombing raids of the Japanese islands and Tokyo, preparatory to the defeat of the Japanese Empire.
Besides being a turning point in the war, however, the 36-day battle provided one of WWII's enduring iconic images – the U.S. Marines' raising of the Star and Stripes atop Mount Suribachi, which overlooked the battlefield.
The photograph of the flag raising, taken by American photographer Joe Rosenthal, not only won a Pulitzer Prize, but it also became of the most famous and reproduced photos of the war, serving as the model for the Marine Corps National Monument in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and becoming the adopted image of the Corps for decades.
Rosenthal’s photograph, however, captured what was actually a second flag-raising on Mount Suribachi. The first and original flag-raising, which was accomplished by the third platoon under the leadership of Thomas, had occurred hours earlier and captured only by a Marine photographer.
For years, the first flag-raising was largely lost to history, obscured by the fame of the second event. And forgotten it would have likely remained, but for the unwavering efforts of a few individuals such as Dr. James Sledge, Thomas' Monticello boyhood friend and a veteran in his own right.
Dr. Sledge not only carried a one-man campaign locally to keep Thomas' memory alive and honor the latter's courage and valor, but he was instrumental in the creation of the “Boots” Thomas memorial and the publication of Call Me No Hero, a book that he collaborated on with author R.A. Sheats.
In time, the effort to recognize Thomas and the other original flag raisers received a signifiant boost nationally with the publication of the bestseller Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley and Ron Powers. Which book was turned into a popular film of the same name by well-known actor, director and filmmaker Clint Eastwood.
Although he was born in Tampa, Thomas grew up in Monticello and came to call it home. He was posthumously awarded The Navy Cross for his extraordinary valor at Iwo Jima and is buried at Roseland Cemetery in Monticello.
For more information about the coming event, contact Avera at TGAvera@aol.com, (850) 997-5007 (home) or (850) 321-6975 (cell).
You must be logged in to post a comment.