Rebekah Sheats
Contributor
Colin Kelly
Here’s one such story many have heard before. It’s the short but heroic tale of Captain Colin P. Kelly, known as the first American hero of WWII.
Born in Madison on July 11, 1915, Colin’s mother, Emmy, was a native of Monticello and was the daughter of D. H. Mays, a local businessman and member of Congress. Colin Kelly graduated from West Point and trained in various flying and bombing schools. He was promoted to captain in 1940 and was stationed in the Philippines.
When Japanese bombers darkened the sky over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it didn’t take them long to reach the Philippines as well. Captain Kelly manned one of the few B-17 bombers that took to the air to oppose the Japanese landings. He and his six-man crew spent the next two days bombing Japanese transports and warships. The bomber performed excellent service and was credited with scoring direct hits on a Japanese battleship or light cruiser.
On December 10, Kelly returned to the landing strip at Clark Field after releasing his load of bombs. He was followed by several Japanese fighter planes. As Kelly circled the airfield, the fighters moved in for the kill. They attacked the plane as it circled, and Kelly ordered his crewmen to bail out while he attempted to land the plane. As he circled the runway a final time, the front of the plane exploded. Kelly attempted to exit the craft with his parachute, but he was unable to get clear of the explosion. The official Army report noted that Kelly was only a moment or two short of putting his plane down on his home field when he met his death. He was only twenty-six years old.
Captain Kelly’s heroic death made national news as the United States grieved over the many lives lost in those tragic early days of the war. In Washington, Florida representative R. A. Green publicly recognized Kelly’s actions and drew the nation’s attention to what he called “the supreme contribution made by Captain Kelly in the defense of our republic.” Memorial services in Florida were accompanied by a flying salute of Army planes. Kelly was referred to by some as “America’s first hero of the War.” Florida Governor Spessard Holland noted of him: “His deed will endure, indelibly inscribed on the pages of America’s history.”
Colin Kelly was one of the first casualties of WWII. He was certainly the first Madison death of the War, but he would not be the last.
Ernest “Boots” Thomas
Dr. Jim Sledge is no stranger to the Ernest “Boots” Thomas Memorial on West Washington Street, in Monticello. He was instrumental in raising funds for the creation of the marble monument that honors the WWII hero from Jefferson County who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Jim Sledge was the boyhood friend of Boots Thomas, and for decades, he maintained the flowers around the memorial. This little plot of land, with its memorial bricks commemorating Jefferson County residents who have served their country in the armed forces, is a witness to the many heroes who have given of themselves to preserve the freedom their families now enjoy. Jim Sledge is one of those heroes himself, a 96-year-old who is still laboring to preserve and honor the memory of those who have gone before him.
Jim Sledge has often visited the Memorial since its creation forty years ago. But, he recently went there for a very different reason than usual. Residents driving on Highway 90 one morning not long ago might have seen him at the Memorial, accompanied by a small group of schoolchildren. The kids had traveled from their home in North Georgia, and they came to the monument with a special purpose. They came to hear the Boots Thomas story—but Dr. Sledge wasn’t doing the talking. Instead, three of the children stood to give an oral presentation they had written themselves. Led by Zoe Burrell (an eighth grader) and assisted by her brothers, Corban (fifth grade) and Gideon (second grade), the young trio recounted the history of Boots’ life in Monticello and his heroic death amid the bloody battle for Iwo Jima. They had learned the story from reading a children’s biography of Boots Thomas.
To accompany the presentation, 13-year-old Zoe had prepared a large board with photographs of Boots and the flag raising. Young Gideon dressed for the part, appearing in military uniform and proudly carrying a handmade flag that he raised at the appropriate point in the story.
The children—who are homeschooled—had originally prepared their presentation for a biography fair held near Atlanta, Georgia. The other schoolchildren who attended the fair had never heard the story of Boots Thomas and were fascinated by the exciting tale and the interesting photographs. Zoe, an artistic thirteen-year-old, even sketched a picture of the flag raising and photocopied it for the younger children at the fair to use as a coloring page.
After presenting the story in Georgia, the children were given the unique opportunity to give their presentation a second time—but this time their audience would be someone who knew Boots personally. As I listened to them tell the story to Dr. Jim Sledge (who knows the story better than anyone), I couldn’t help but marvel at the reversal of roles that was occurring that morning. For decade upon decade, Jim Sledge and other men and women in the community have been preserving the heroic story of one of Monticello’s greatest WWII heroes. But today, a new generation has begun to take on the task. Picking up the mantle that Jim Sledge and others will soon be laying aside, these youngsters are eager to take their part in honoring their forefathers and preserving the memory of a previous generation.
When the presentation was finished, Dr. Sledge offered the children a few words of encouragement. “I’ll keep telling the story,” he told the youngsters, “and you keep telling it too. Sooner or later, everybody will hear it.”
Tell the story. It’s a simple thing to do perhaps, but it’s also one that easily gets overlooked. This Memorial Day, let’s not overlook the importance of passing on our history to a new generation. Take some time during the holiday this year to remember. Gather your children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, and remind them of the meaning of the day. Tell them the story of your life, of your parents’ lives, or the story of their ancestors. Remind them of the history that brought them to this place, to this point in time. Awaken in the next generation a love for history and a fascination in the lives of the men and women of old.
It’s time to tell the tales, to speak of those who have gone before us, to remember their lives and honor their memories. Let’s learn a lesson from those little schoolchildren from Georgia. We’re all getting older. Time is passing us by. Soon, those kids will be taking our place and assuming our role as “grown-ups.” So, take a moment today to recount the history and pass on the mantle of story-telling to a new generation.