Marine Corps War Memorial

The iconic Marine Corps War Memorial, better known as Iwo Jima, honors all the Marines who have given their lives defending the nation.

One of Arlington's most photographed monuments, the Marine Corps War Memorial is one of the largest cast-bronze sculptures in the world with its 32-foot-high figures sitting atop a gilded granite base.

The magnificent memorial represents an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the second flag-raising on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II. While the statue depicts one of the most famous incidents of the war, the memorial is dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of the United States since 1775.

Often called Iwo Jima, the memorial affords panoramic views of the Washington, DC, skyline and sights, including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Capitol building.

Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima)

The Event Behind the Statue

In 1945 the tiny island of Iwo Jima, 660 miles south of Tokyo, became a primary objective in American plans to conclude the Pacific campaign successfully. U.S. troops had already recaptured most of the other islands in the Pacific Ocean that the Japanese had taken in 1941 and 1942.

According to the National Park Service account: “On the morning of February 19, 1945, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions invaded Iwo Jima after an ineffective 72-hour bombardment. The 28th Regiment of the 5th Division was ordered to capture Mount Suribachi, an extinct volcano that rises 550 feet to dominate the ocean around it. They reached the base of the mountain on the afternoon of February 21 and, by nightfall the next day, had almost completely surrounded it. On the morning of February 23, Marines of Company E, 2nd Battalion, started the tortuous climb up the rough terrain to the top. At about 10:30 am men all over the island were thrilled by the sight of a small American flag flying from atop Mount Suribachi. That afternoon, when the slopes were clear of enemy resistance, a second, larger flag was raised in the same location.”

Making of a Memorial

Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press caught the afternoon flag-raising by five Marines and one Navy corpsman in an iconic photograph that eventually won a Pulitzer Prize. Sculptor Felix W. de Weldon, then on duty with the U.S. Navy, was so moved by the image that he constructed first a scale model and then a life-size model of it.

Three men believed to be the survivors of the famous flag raising (the other three were killed on Iwo Jima) posed for the sculptor as he modeled their faces in clay. All available pictures and physical statistics of the three who did not survive were collected and used in modeling their faces. (To learn more about the identities of the flag raisers, you can read the U.S. Marine Corps statement on the Iwo Jima flag raisers.)

Once the statue was completed in plaster, it was carefully disassembled and trucked to Brooklyn, NY, for casting in bronze, which took nearly three years. After the parts had been cast, cleaned, finished and chased, they were reassembled into about a dozen pieces — the largest weighing more than 20 tons — and brought back to Washington, DC, by a three-truck convoy. There they were bolted, welded together and treated with preservatives.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the memorial in a ceremony on Nov. 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Events

Ceremonies take place on the parade ground in front of the memorial to honor the Marine Corps heritage. Sunset parades, promotion and retirement ceremonies, and a commemoration of the Marine Corps' birthday all happen here.

How to Visit

The memorial grounds are open year-round and are accessible via a 10-15 minute walk from either the Rosslyn or Arlington National Cemetery Metro stations.