The WTXL "Road Trip" is here once again. This year's trip kicks off in Jefferson County, where the WTXL team will be all week long.
MONTICELLO, FL (WTXL) - Sergeant Ernest "Boots" Thomas, part of the group of marines who helped raise the American flag at a summit following Iwo Jima, is still remembered as a humble hero and friend.
Many remember the iconic photo captured of a group of soldiers mounting a flag at the top of Mount Suribachi following an American victory over Iwo Jima. What most don't know is that there were actually two flag raisings that day and while he can not be seen in the famous image, Boots Thomas was part of that group of marines.
In a rare photo taken on February 23, 1945, Boots can be seen helping raise the first flag. When this was broadcasted back to the United States, the Secretary of the Navy asked that a bigger flag be mounted, hence the picture we have come known today.
While he may not have been famous, it's safe to say Boots has been far from forgotten.
His body, sent back home following his death just a few weeks after the flag raisings, lies at the Roseland Cemetery in Monticello.
Childhood friend James Sledge remembers Boots as a humble hero, calling him not just a friend, but a role model as well.
"He was a person who could be depended on", said Sledge. "In school, he never was one to brag about his grades, but he made A's in every course. And that was just his personality. It was never about 'me.' It was about what our group was doing."
It was this dedication and humility that inspired Sledge to honor his friend's memory by writing a book about Boots which he named Call Me No Hero after a response Boots once gave a war reporter.
