Beschreibung:

The original Iwo Jima monument, cast stone over a steel skeleton welded to a steel base, the monument finished with a bronzed lacquered layer. A SYMBOL OF WARTIME BRAVERY, OF NATIONAL UNITY, AND OF THE MARINE CORPS. THE ORIGINAL IWO JIMA MONUMENT WAS CONCEIVED BY FELIX DE WELDON ON THE EVENING OF THE 23rd FEBRUARY 1945, based on the Rosenthal photograph of the second flag raising on Iwo Jima on the 4th day of the Battle, as it came through to the naval base at Patuxent Naval Air Station, Maryland, where Felix de Weldon was stationed. This is one of the most potent images of heroism and bravery in battle of the 20th century, the raising of the Stars and Stripes on the summit of Mount Suribachi on the fourth day of fighting for the island in February 1945 has become a symbol of American Nationalism and Unity and serves as a fitting Monument to the bravery of the Marine Corps Forces serving around the World to this very day. Who better to espouse the principles that the monument represents than the artist himself; when this Iwo Jima Monument was unveiled in Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C. outside the old Navy Building, on Constitution Avenue, the artist gave the following dedication: 'I tried to create something more than a statue – A symbol of Unison of Action and Determination, the Will to Sacrifice, and the Dedication to maintain Peace and Freedom, and to hold our Flag high. This Flag that we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thoughts and our purpose as a Nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choice is ours...It floats in majestic silence above the multitude which executes this choice, whether in peace or in war. And yet though silent, it speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us and record they wrote upon it. It has witnessed a great history and as it floats on high, it symbolizes an event which made this country great and the Freedom for which our people have fought. It symbolizes a time on the Field of Battle when Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue'. The Genesis and Realization of the Iwo Jima Monument: The Iwo Jima monument is based on the famous photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal of the second Flag Raising at the top of Mount Suribachi on the morning of the 4th day of the battle for Iwo Jima. Joe Rosenthal an Associated Press photographer, was attached to the Marines landing on Iwo Jima that day for their assault on Mount Suribachi. He arrived in the morning and with his bulky Speed Graphic Camera ascended mount Suribachi in the wake of the assault; halfway up he met four battered marines coming down , amongst them was Sgt Lou Lowey, a photographer for Leatherneck Magazine, who said that the flag had already been raised on the summit at 10:37. But the Marine command were not satisfied with the rather small flag erected on the top of the mountain, and ordered a second, much larger flag, to be put in its place. Rosenthal continued to climb up the mountain and once there tried to find the marines who had raised the flag to get a group picture. No one seemed able or willing to tell him where they were and so Rosenthal turned his attention to the group of Marines about to raise the second larger flag. As Rosenthal himself said: 'I thought of trying to get a shot of the two flags, one coming down the other going up, but although this turned out to be a picture Bob Campbell got, I couldn't line it up. Then I decided to get just the one flag going up, and I backed off about 35 feet.... out of the corner of my eye, as I had turned toward Genaust, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene.' Rosenthal didn't know what he had taken, he gathered the men into a group under the flag and took a second photo of the flag raising group then he slid and ran down the mountain, to give his film over to be airlifted by seaplane to CINPAC HQ in Guam where they arrived at 8am (local tim