Marine Corps War Memorial

The Marine Corps War Memorial is a large, bronze statue near Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. The monument honors the bravery and sacrifice of members of the US Marine Corps. The design of the monument is based on an iconic World War II (1939–1945) photograph by Joe Rosenthal showing Marine Corps members raising an American flag on the disputed island of Iwo Jima. The Marine Corps War Memorial was designed and constructed under the supervision of sculptor Felix W. de Weldon. Dedicated in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and a well-known landmark in the Washington, DC, area.

Background

The US Marine Corps formed in 1775 and became a crucial aspect of the nation's armed forces in many wars. The Marines became famous for their strength, determination, and sense of duty. Marine units generally were sent into the most dangerous parts of a conflict. Their strict training and the hazardous conditions in which they operated helped foster a strong sense of pride and camaraderie among Marines.

One of the most important engagements involving the Marines occurred in 1945 at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is a small island located about 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) south of Tokyo, Japan. In 1945, the final year of World War II, the United States was at war with Japan. Japanese forces occupied Iwo Jima and many other small islands around their mainland and defended them tenaciously from invaders. Many Japanese soldiers refused to retreat or surrender and were willing to fight to the death against the Marines and other U.S. forces, leading to grueling and brutal battles.

U.S. leaders implemented a plan of "island hopping," or capturing islands one after another to provide U.S. forces with new bases of operation as they closed in on the island of Japan. This method proved slow but effective. By 1945, leaders recognized Iwo Jima as the next necessary step. If they could capture the island, U.S. forces could turn it into an air and naval base. Bombers and escorts could take off from and land on Iwo Jima while conducting raids on Japan, and U.S. warships could gather at Iwo Jima while establishing blockades and transporting troops.

On February 19, 1945, the Fourth and Fifth U.S. Marine Divisions attacked Iwo Jima. One of the main objectives was to capture an extinct volcano, Mount Suribachi, which held a commanding position on the island. The 28th Regiment of the Fifth Division fought its way to the volcano and surrounded it by February 22. The following morning, Marines began climbing the volcano, and upon reaching the top marked it with a U.S. flag. In the afternoon, five Marines joined by a Navy corpsman erected a much larger flag on the top of the hill. These men were Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlan H. Block, and Privates Franklin R. Sousley, Rene A. Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and Harold Schultz.

Overview

Although the Battle of Iwo Jima would rage for a total of thirty-six days, the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi was the first sign of imminent U.S. victory. Present at the flag raising was Associated Press (AP) photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took a snapshot of the six men raising the flag. This photograph, which ultimately won Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize, became an icon of American bravery and sacrifice. For many Marines, the image was a special point of pride because it encapsulated the tireless work of the Corps and its hard-earned successes in World War II.

The image of the flag raising so captivated the nation that sculptor Felix W. de Weldon decided to create a statue based on it. He modeled in clay the faces of the three surviving participants—Gagnon, Hayes, and Schultz (the other three having been killed in later stages of the battle)—and collected all the photographs, statistics, sketches, and maps he could find to make an accurate three-dimensional portrayal of the famous event. As the scope of the project mounted, de Weldon found enthusiastic support from the Marine Corps, whose members, friends, and families donated $850,000, the entire cost of the monument.

De Weldon completed the statue in plaster and then disassembled it into 108 parts for casting in bronze. The casting of the enormous statue took three years to complete, even with a large team of artisans involved. Once the pieces were finished and prepared, they were transported to Washington, DC, to be assembled. The parts were bolted and welded together, and the statue was placed at its permanent location near Arlington National Cemetery. On November 10, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the statue in a ceremony that also marked the 179th anniversary of the formation of the Marine Corps.

Accurately detailed but in a larger-than-life scale, the statue stands 78 feet (24 meters) tall and weighs 100 tons (90,719 kilograms), making it the largest bronze statue in the world. It represents the six men—from front to back, Block, Gagnon, Sousley, Strank, Schultz, and Hayes—raising a 60-foot (18-meter) flagpole. The men are approximately 25 feet (8 meters) tall, carrying rifles ranging from 12 to 16 feet (4 to 5 meters) in length and knives almost 6 feet (2 meters) long. The statue rests on a concrete platform framed by almost 400 tons (362,874 kilograms) of polished black granite. The base is ringed by a gold band engraved with the names of the battles that the Marine Corps has participated in since 1775.

The Marine Corps War Memorial is one of the most noteworthy and stirring structures in the Washington, DC, area, along with the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol. It is a popular landmark for tourists. Marines hold weekly parades and concerts at the site during the summer. A large, fabric flag flies from the bronze flagpole twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, by a presidential proclamation of 1961.

Bibliography

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Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. "Why 70-Year-Old Iwo Jima Photo Became Iconic." CNN, 22 Feb. 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/02/22/opinion/ben-ghiat-iwo-jima-anniversary/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

"Guide to the Marine Corps War Memorial." Destination DC, https://washington.org/DC-guide-to/marine-corps-war-memorial. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

"History of the Marine Corps War Memorial." National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/historyculture/usmcwarmemorial.htm. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

Hondowicz, David M. "The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial: A Universal Symbol." Marine Corps Association & Foundation, Jan. 1998, https://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/us-marine-corps-war-memorial-universal-symbol. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

"The Marine Corps War Memorial." Marines: The Official Website of the United States Marine Corps, www.barracks.marines.mil/History/Marine-Corps-War-Memorial/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

"7 Interesting Facts about the Marine Corps War Memorial." Washington Photo Safari, 13 July 2015, https://washingtonphotosafari.com/news/7-interesting-facts-about-the-marine-corps-war-memorial. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

"US Marine Corps War Memorial." National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/planyourvisit/usmc‗memorial.htm. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.