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"To those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know!"
| The Marine Corps War Memorial |
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| The Marine Corps War Memorial |
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The Marine Corps War Memorial stands as a symbol of a grateful nation's esteem for the honored dead of the United States Marine Corps. Although the statue depicts one of the most famous incidents of World War II, the Memorial is dedicated to ALL
Marines who have given their lives in the defense of the United States since
1775. (Alvin's note: The last sentence is the reason I have
chosen this background which shows a Colonial Marine alongside a modern-day
Marine with our beloved emblem between them!)
Shortly after Associated Press newsphotographer Joe Rosenthal's
inspiring action picture of the Marines raising the
second flag on Mount Suribachi was released,
Sculptor Felix W. de Weldon, then on duty with the Navy, constructed a scale
model and then a life-size model inspired by the scene.
The three survivors of the flag raising, Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, Corporal Rene Arthur Gagnon and Pharmacist's Mate Second Class John Henry Bradley, USN, posed for Mr. de Weldon, who modeled their faces in clay. All available pictures and physical statistics of the three Marines who gave their lives, Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Henry Block and Private First Class Franklin Runyon Sousley, were assembled and used in the modeling of their faces. The figures were originally molded in the nude so that the strain of muscles would be prominently shown after clothing was modeled on the struggling figures.
Steel framework, roughly duplicating the bone structure of the human body, was assembled to support the hugh figures under construction.
Once the statue was completed in plaster it was carefully disassembled into 108 pieces and trucked to the Bedi-Rassy Art Foundry, Brooklyn, New York for casting in bronze. The casting process, which required the work of experienced artisans, took nearly three years.
After the parts were cast, cleaned, finished and chased, they were reassembled into approximately a dozen pieces and brought back to Washington by a three-truck convoy. Erection of the Memorial on the edge of Arlington National Cemetery near the Virginia approaches to Memorial Bridge was begun in September of 1954. It was officially dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 10, 1954. Present for the dedication were Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, Marine Corps Commandant General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. and the three surviving flag-raisers, Ira H. Hayes, Rene A. Gagnon and John H. Bradley.
The Memorial is of heroic dimensions.
Weighing 100 tons, it stands 78 feet tall counting the base. The six
figures in battle fatigues and helmets on the statue are 32 feet high; they
are erecting a bronze flagpole 60 feet in length. The figures are placed on
a rock slope rising approximately 6 feet from a 10 foot base. The flag on
the pole is a real one, 10 x19-1/2 feet and it flies twenty-four hours a day
by presidential decree.
The M-1 rifle carried by one of the figures
is approximately 16 feet long, the carbines are 12 feet long. The canteen, if filled, would hold 32 quarts of water.
The figures of the statue are standing on
rough Swedish granite. The concrete face of the statue is covered with block of polished Swedish black granite. Burnished into the granite, in
gold lettering, are the names and dates of principal Marine Corps
engagements since the Corps was founded in 1775. Also inscribed on the base
in tribute of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to the fighting men on Iwo
Jima: "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue." Opposite this, on the
base is the inscription: "In honor and in memory of men of the United
States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since
November 10, 1775."
The memorial site is a seven and one-half acre tract of land bordering the northern end of Arlington National Cemetery and overlooking Washington, D.C., near the western end of Memorial Bridge.
The entire cost of the statue and developing the Memorial was $850,000, donated by U.S. Marines, former Marines, Marine Corps Reservists, friends of the Marine Corps and members of the Naval Service. NO PUBLIC FUNDS WERE USED FOR THE MONUMENT!
What this comes down to is that the Marines built their own memorial. However, this somewhat unusual act is simply pure Marine Corps. The Marines have never been shy about calling attention to their record. In the words of a former commandant, General Clifton B. Cates:
"The Marine Corps has no ambition beyond the performance of its duty to its country. Its sole honor stems from that recognition which cannot be denied to a Corps of men who have sought a life for themselves little more than a life of hardship and the most hazardous assignments in battle." For more than four decades, The Marine Corps War Memorial has stood overlooking our nation's capital, joining other Memorials to honor those who have made this nation great.
References:
"The United States Marines on Iwo Jima" by Bernard C. Nalty and Danny J. Crawford
Marine Corps Historical Center
History and Museums Division
Building 58
Washington Navy Yard
Washington, DC 20374-0580
(202) 433-3483
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