Monticello’s hero: Ernest “Boots” Thomas

Susie Reams
ECB Publishing, Inc.

On Feb. 23, 1945, Ernest Thomas, also known as “Boots”, with 40 brave Marines and surrounded by enemies firing, climbed on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, Japan to place the American flag.
His goal was to put the American flag on the top of the 550-ft summit on the island to symbolize hope and encourage his fellow American soldiers to continue fighting. At least four hours later, they replaced the flag with another American flag in the same spot, as they believed not all of the American soldiers could see the original flag, so they replaced it with a larger one. The famous photograph of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima was taken during the raising of the second flag.
Thomas was born in Tampa, Fla., to Ernest and Martha Thomas, but he grew up in the small town Monticello, Fla.
He went to Monticello High School and after his graduation, he went to Angola, Ind., to attend Tri-State College for at least a year.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Thomas enlisted in the Marine Corps. He requested to go into basic combat, after basic training and work as a drill instructor. Thomas was sent overseas in 1944, to Iwo Jima, in Japan. That was his first-ever combat experience. Before the war would end, there were thousands of men, on both sides, who were killed in the battle.
Thomas became the new commander of the platoon after his platoon commander became wounded in action on Feb. 21, 1945. His men conquered the enemy successfully in that sector, and Thomas’s fearless efforts received him the Navy Cross for heroism. Thomas and his six men raised the American flag on the mount only two days later.
On March 3, 1945, Thomas died in gunfire. He was then buried at Iwo Jima, and after the war his body was returned to Monticello and laid to rest in the Roseland Cemetery.
In June of 1946, the navy cross was awarded after death and presented to his mother, Martha Thomas.
In 1978, a monument was placed on the right-way side of Highway 90 (going towards Tallahassee), which honored the braveness of Ernest “Boots” Thomas and his men, allowing his courage to live on, in history.
The monument still stands today.