Existing comment:
"I tried to create Something More than a Statue"
-- Felix de Weldon, 1945
Dedicated -- 10 November 1954
Sculptor -- Felix de Weldon (1907-2003)
Made of -- Bronze -- Black granite from Sweden
Height -- 78 feet | 23.8 m
Cost (1954) -- $850,000
Paid for by individual Marines and friends of the Corps
Before World War II, there were no national memorials honoring American veterans. This was the first. Felix de Weldon was working for the Navy when he first saw the flag-raising photo. Powerfully inspired, he started work. He created his first small statue in only 48 hours. He then secured approval from the Corps and Congress to make something grander.
He hoped for monumental art that could "encompass the valiant spirit of our fighting men and thrill the heart of the Nation."
De Weldon worked on this project for nine years
The statue you see here is 64 times larger than Weldon's first mockup.
Three Marines who survived Iwo Jima posed for the artist with their combat gear. |