The Marine Corps War Memorial is a military memorial statue located near the Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon in Rosslyn, Virginia, United States. The memorial is dedicated to all personnel of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) who have died in the defense of their country since 1775. Its design was based on the iconic photo from the Battle of Iwo Jima.

In 1951, work commenced on creating a cast bronze memorial based on the photo, with the figures 10 meters (32 feet) tall and the flagpole 20 meters (60 feet) long. The granite base of the memorial bears two inscriptions:

* "In honor and memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since 10 November 1775"

* "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue." — a tribute by Admiral Chester Nimitz to the fighting men on Iwo Jima.

The location and date of every major Marine Corps engagement up to the present is inscribed around the base of the memorial.

The memorial was officially dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a proclamation that a U.S. Flag should fly from the memorial 24 hours a day — one of the few official sites where this is permitted. The current U.S. Flag, however, is not a factually accurate depiction of the flag which was raised over Mount Suribachi, as two stars have since been added for Alaska and Hawaii.

The original plaster working model of the statue currently stands in Harlingen, Texas at the Marine Military Academy, a private Marine Corps-inspired youth military academy. The Academy is also the final resting place of Corporal Harlon Block, USMC, one of the Marines immortalized in the iconic image (seen at base of flag). Corporal Block was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

The National Iwo Jima Memorial in Newington, Connecticut uses a similar design and is dedicated to 6,821 men who died in the battle.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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