The United States Marine Corps War Memorial, (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) is a statue that overlooks the Potomac River at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D. C. It has been placed there in dedication to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of their country. Its design was inspired by the most famous and iconic war-time photo ever taken, that of the flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi during World War II in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 by the Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Joe Rosenthal. The Marines in the photo are Sargeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, PFC Franklin Sousley, PFC Rene Gagnon, PFC Ira Hayes, and PHM2 John Bradley (U. S. Navy Corpsman). Strank, Block, and Sousley did not survive the battle.
Work on the project was authorized by Congress in 1947 and work began on the cast bronze memorial in 1951 and was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 10, 1954 which was the 179th anniversary of the Marine Corps. President John F. Kennedy issued a proclamation in 1961 stating that an American flag would be displayed onsite 24 hours a day. The memorial was sculpted by Felix de Weldon and designed by Horace W. Peaslee. The cost of construction was $850,000 and the debt was covered entirely by donations, of which 96 percent came from the Marines themselves.
It is not merely the likeness which is precious ... but the association and the sense of nearness involved in the thing ... the fact of the very shadow of the person lying there fixed forever! It is the very sanctification of portraits I think—and it is not at all monstrous in me to say ... that I would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest Artist’s work ever produced.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
Felix de Weldon was born in Austria on April 12, 1907 and died on June 3, 2003 in Woodstock, Virginia and was buried in Arlington National Cemetary. He worked on the memorial from 1945 to 1954 paying particular attention to every detail. The uniforms, helmets, boots were all recreated accurately. The 3 survivors of the battle modeled their faces in clay and photos were collected from the 3 who did not survive the battle and were later used in the modeling and sculpting of their faces. The casting of the bronze took almost 3 years to complete. Once sculpted in plaster, it was then disassembled and shipped to Brooklyn, NY to be cast in bronze. There, the 108 parts would be cast, cleaned, finished, chased, then ultimately shipped back to be bolted and welded together.
The inscription on the statue reads, "Uncommon valor was a virtue" a tribute by Admiral Chester Nimitz, and another reads, "In honor and memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since 10 November 1775". Also inscribed are the names of the campaigns that the Marines have been involved in since 1775. The figures are 32 feet tall and the flagpole measures 60 feet. The base is made from 700 tons of concrete and 389 tons of black Swedish granite. At 78 feet above the ground, the memorial ranks among the largest bronze statues in the world.
I hope there will be no effort to put up a shaft or any monument of that sort in memory of me or of the other women who have given themselves to our work. The best kind of a memorial would be a school where girls could be taught everything useful that would help them to earn an honorable livelihood; where they could learn to do anything they were capable of, just as boys can. I would like to have lived to see such a school as that in every great city of the United States.
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)
The memorial is located at 14th Street North - Arlington, Virginia between Route 50 and the Arlington National Cemetery, open daily, 24 hours. There is a parade hosted by the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon and a Music In Motion performance by the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps from May through August on Tuesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.
James Bolton is founder and creator of lovefortheflag.com, a website dedicated to the flag of the United States of America and to promoting patriotism and loyalty to country.