Iwo Jima Memorial
The Marine Corps Memorial is a larger-than-life memorial that depicts the raising of the US flag on Mt. Suribachi after the 5-week Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 capturing the island from the Japanese.
On September 13, 1954, the construction assembly of the Iwo Jima Memorial began. The Marine Corps Memorial is a larger-than-life memorial that depicts the raising of the US flag on Mt. Suribachi after the 5-week Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, capturing the island from the Japanese.
The heavy bronze statue is based on the photograph by Joe Rosenthal, an Associated Press journalist; Felix W. de Weldon sculpted it. It is located just outside of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington Ridge Park. The names and dates of every principal Marine Corps engagement since its founding form a gold ring around the base to honor the memory of Marines who have given their lives to their country.
The larger-than-life statue stands 32 feet high, and the Marines are shown raising a 60-foot bronze flagpole atop the mountain after the battle. The entire memorial is about 78 feet tall, and the canteen would hold 32 quarts of water. US Marines, Marine Corps friends, and Naval Service members donated the whole statue cost.
After the approximately 12 parts of the statue had been cast, they weighed more than 20 tons and were brought to Arlington by a three-truck convoy. Here, they were bolted and welded together. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the memorial in a ceremony on November 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps. The flag flies 24 hours daily, 365 days a year, by presidential proclamation.
In 2015, Billionaire philanthropist David Rubinstein, the son of Marine Robert Rubenstein, donated $5.3 million to refurbish the US. Marine Corps War Memorial. It was completed in February of 2020.
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