Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Feb. 23, the Boots Thomas Memorial Park Foundation held its annual ceremony to mark the 1945 Battle for Iwo Jima in World War II and hear stories about local war hero Sgt. Ernest “Boots” Thomas, who first raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle.
Foundation President Troy Avera thanked all who gathered for the occasion, and by way of introduction said, “It's a wonderful thing that we remember this event and Boots Thomas, who is a true hero from Monticello that came out and raised the first flag on Iwo Jima when he was less than 21 years old. That's pretty remarkable that he fought his way with six platoon members when he had just taken over leadership of the platoon... He was almost forgotten, 
and would have been forgotten, if it had not been for Dr. Sledge, who was his boyhood friend. Jim Sledge has worked his entire life to not let the world forget about what Boots Thomas did.”
Avera went on to recognize local World War II veterans in attendance at the ceremony, including Sledge, George Pittman and Charlie Reichert.
Those in attendance were treated to an informal storytelling session as Sledge engagingly shared his knowledge of the events of Feb. 23 as they unfolded 78 years ago on Iwo Jima, a story that still causes him to choke up with emotion to this day.
Sledge also recounted the process by which he and others brought the facts of Thomas' role in the battle to light and the establishment of the local memorial park. In addition to the relief sculpture in memory of Boots and his platoon, the memorial now includes more than 400 specially engraved commemorative bricks recognizing local veterans across various conflicts.
The story of Thomas and Sledge also has been written down in a number of books by local author and 
historian R. A. Sheats, including Invisible Hero: Two Boys and an Exciting Tale of Honor and Valor. Sheats assisted with the anniversary program by presenting a recording of a CBS radio interview conducted by Don Pryor with Thomas in February of 1945.
During the broadcast, Thomas had said, “Before we started up the mountain, Lt.-Col. Chandler W. Johnson, our battalion commander, handed the flag to Lt. Schrier – all rolled up – and said, 'Put that on top of the hill.' And the lieutenant said, 'Okay.' When we got there we put it up, on a flag pole made out of a piece of Japanese pipe. And then we got busy, mopping up our side of the mountain and sending out patrols. We stayed there all night, but nobody slept very much.”
Boots was killed in action several days after the flag raising and is now buried in Roseland Cemetery in Monticello.
The anniversary ceremony concluded with Dr. Sledge playing the harmonica while Corban Burrell sang “Amazing Grace.”
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