Honoring Boots Thomas with a Christmas wreath

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

This past Friday, Dec. 18, a small gathering took place to honor Sergeant Ernest Ivy "Boots" Thomas Jr. by placing a wreath on his memorial, on Highway 90, and his grave, at Roseland Cemetery.

Major John Haynes, a veteran from the US Marine Corps, along with other veterans and participants, have recently been working on making sure that veterans' graves are well-tended and cared for. They started by weeding and cleaning the grave of Boots Thomas and spread to finding other veterans' graves, straightening them up and replacing flowers and flags as needed. They come out once a week now to tend to the graves and make sure they look nice.

Recently, Leon County donated money to the group to buy wreaths to place on veterans' graves there. Haynes particularly wanted to honor Boots Thomas, however, so he purchased the wreaths that they could put on his memorial and grave here in Jefferson County. They will be placing a wreath on Colin Kelly Jr.'s grave in Madison as well.
The short ceremonies to honor Boots Thomas began at his memorial, with Haynes reading a prayer by a 5th Marine Division Chaplain, Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn. The prayer was a type of eulogy that Gittelsohn gave after the battle of Iwo Jima, and Haynes read it again on Friday to honor the fallen and Boot Thomas.
After the prayer was read, Haynes took the wreath and placed it in front of the memorial. Once it was placed, there was a salute from the veterans and a brief moment of silence before moving on to place the next wreath at Boots Thomas' grave.
Once everyone arrived at Roseland Cemetery, Haynes got up and said a few words in honor of Boots Thomas. He thanked him for his service and sacrifice before placing the wreath at the head of his grave, just under the plaque dedicated to him. After setting down this wreath, there was another salute from the veterans and a brief moment of silence.

It is essential to keep the memory of our fallen veterans alive, and Haynes and this group of people are all doing their best to make sure that not only are they remembered, but they are honored, by keeping their graves clean and decorated, as well as going an extra mile, such as placing a wreath during Christmastime, when they can.