Marine Corp (USMC) Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial),
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial
pictures.
This is a special Memorial Day Oregon Pics
feature. Last summer my mom and I took a trip back east to watch my son
Jacob graduate from Army Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina... along
the way we stopped at several special places, below are some pictures from the
Marine Corp (USMC) Memorial (sometimes called the Iwo Jima Memorial),
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, The
Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.
The pictures below were shot at the
Marine Corp (USMC) Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial).
The Marines landed on Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945. The U.S.
Military directed 800 ships and 220,000 men into the effort. B-24s struck the
island for 74 consecutive days before the Marines attacked. Iwo was only five
miles long. At the southern end was the extinct 550-foot volcano, Mount
Suribachi. The operation was scheduled to last 14 days. It actually lasted more
than a month. The result was 5,931 Marines killed and 17,372 wounded---one
Marine casualty for each Japanese on the island. (note from Brian... Think
about that next time you hear the newscasters haranguing about our 'failure' in
Iraq!)
On the first day of the assault, 30,000 Marines landed and an
estimated 548 Marines had been killed and 1,775 wounded. Thousands more would
participate in the battle and on March 16, 1945, at 6:00PM, the island was
officially declared secured.
  
The Marine Corps War Memorial stands as a symbol of this grateful Nation's
esteem for the honored dead of the U.S. Marine Corps. While 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.
The small island of Iwo Jima lies 660 miles south of Tokyo. One of its
outstanding geographical features is Mount Suribachi, an extinct volcano that
forms the narrow southern tip of the island and rises 550 feet to dominate the
area. By February 1945, U.S. troops had recaptured most of the territory taken
by the Japanese in 1941 and 1942; still uncaptured was Iwo Jima, which became a
primary objective in American plans to bring the Pacific campaign to a
successful conclusion.
On the morning of February 19, 1945, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions invaded
Iwo Jima after a somewhat ineffective bombardment lasting 72 hours. The 28th
Regiment, 5th Division, was ordered to capture Mount Suribachi. 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 a.m., 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 by
five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman: Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon H.
Block, Pfc. Franklin R. Sousley, Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, Pfc. Ira Hayes, and PhM.
2/c John H. Bradley, USN.
News-photographer Joe Rosenthal caught the afternoon flag raising in an
inspiring Pulitzer Prize winning photograph. When the picture was later
released, sculptor Felix W. de Weldon, then on duty with the U.S. Navy, was so
moved by the scene that he constructed a scale model and then a life-size model
of it. Gagnon, Hayes, and Bradley, the three survivors of the flag raising (the
others having been killed in later phases of the Iwo Jima battle), posed for the
sculptor who modeled their faces in clay. All available pictures and physical
statistics of the three who had given their lives were collected and then used
in the modeling of their faces.
Once the statue was completed in plaster, it was carefully disassembled and
trucked to Brooklyn, N.Y., for casting in bronze. The casting process, which
required the work of experienced artisans, took nearly 3 years. After the parts
had been cast, cleaned, finished, and chased, they were reassembled into
approximately a dozen pieces--the largest weighing more than 20 tons--and
brought back to Washington, D.C., by a three truck convoy. Here they were bolted
and welded together, and the statue was treated with preservatives.
Erection of the memorial, which was designed by Horace W. Peaslee, was begun
in September 1954. It was officially dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
on November 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Memorial Statistics: The 32-foot-high figures are shown erecting a 60-foot bronze flagpole from
which a cloth flag flies 24 hours a day in accordance with Presidential
proclamation of June 12, 1961. They occupy the same positions as in Rosenthal's
historic photograph. Hayes is the figure farthest from the flag staff; Sousley
to the right front of Hayes; Strank on Sousley's left; Bradley in front of
Sousley; Gagnon in front of Strank; and Block closest to the bottom of the
flagstaff. The figures, placed on a rock slope, rise about 6 feet from a 10-foot
base, making the memorial 78 feet high overall. The M-l rifle and the carbine
carried by two of the figures are 16 and 12 feet long, respectively. The canteen
would hold 32 quarts of water.
The base of the memorial is made of rough Swedish granite. Burnished in gold
on the granite are the names and dates of every principal Marine Corps
engagement since the founding of the Corps, as well as the inscription: "In
honor and in memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given
their lives to their country since November 10, 1775." Also inscribed on the
base is the tribute of Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz to the fighting men on Iwo
Jima: "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue."
The entire cost of the statue and developing the memorial site was
$850,000--all 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 this memorial.
Below are pictures from the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial.
  
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves as
a testament to the sacrifice of American military personnel during one of this
nation's least popular wars. The memorial consists of three distinct sections.
"the wall", the three service men statue and flagpole and the women in service
to the Vietnam war statue (not pictured)
Washington Monument and
Lincoln Memorial pictures and information.
  Between
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Korean War Memorial stand the Washington
Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Below are pictures of the Washington
Monument, if you look close you can see construction taking place on the newly
finished World War 2 Memorial.
You can learn more about the Washington
Monument by visiting the Federal Park Service Washington Monument home page:
http://www.nps.gov/wamo/home.htm
Below are pictures of the Lincoln Memorial...
the Washington Monument photo on the upper left was taken from the Lincoln
Memorial... the Vietnam Veterans Memorial would be on the left hand side, the
Korean War Memorial would be on the right hand side.
   
 The
Lincoln Memorial is a tribute to President Abraham Lincoln and the nation he
fought to preserve during the Civil War (1861-1865). The Lincoln
Memorial was built to resemble a Greek temple. It has 36 Doric columns, one
for each state at the time of Lincoln’s death. A sculpture by Daniel Chester
French of a seated Lincoln is in the center of the memorial chamber.
Inscribed on the south wall of the monument is the Gettysburg Address.
Above it is a mural painted by Jules Guerin depicting the angel of truth
freeing a slave. Guerin also painted the unity of North and South mural on
the north wall. Etched into the north wall below the mural is Lincoln’s
second inaugural speech.
 Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Nov. 19, 1863
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent
a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or
any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a
great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a
final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live. This
we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we
cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and
dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or
detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task
remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of
devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish
from the earth."
|
Below are pictures of the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
   
| From 1950 to 1953, the
United States joined with United Nations forces in Korea to take a stand
against what was deemed a threat to democratic nations worldwide. The
Korean War Veterans Memorial honors those Americans who answered the call,
those who worked and fought under the trying of circumstances, and those who
gave their lives for the cause of freedom. |
Don't forget to visit our recent Oregon Pics
features highlighted below.
 
October 29, 2003 ~
Cape Blanco, Battle Rock Park, Surfers at Hubbard's Creek Beach, Crazy Horse
Memorial
pictures:
Jerry and I celebrated our homecoming by traveling to several of our favorite
Port Orford area locations, in this feature we post some of the better images
from our excursions... Crazy Horse Memorial pictures too!
October 20, 2003 ~ Trip to
Montana, Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, Mount Rushmore South Dakota:
Pictures and stories from my summer visit to Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the
Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, and my son Jacob's 2 week leave at my mom's ranch
in Montana.
June
22, 2003,
Father's Day visits to Battle Rock Park, Cape Blanco Lighthouse, and Paradise
Point State Park:
Jerry and I spend Father's Day visiting some of our favorite Port Orford
locations.
June
12, 2003,
Big Surf at Battle Rock Park:
Cool large surf pictures from our daily visits to Battle Rock Park... plus
more images from our travels to Wyoming's Yellowstone Park.
 May 27, 2003, Port Orford Kite Festival, Wild
Rivers Coast Windfest:
Pictures from the Port Orford Kite Festival
on Port Beach... plus the first set of images from our visit to Yellowstone
Park.
April 23, 2003, Port Orford to Gold
Beach Drive, Part 1, Part 2:
Jerry and I drive from Port Orford to Gold Beach and back, along the way we stop
at the Port Orford Cove viewpoint, Humbug Mountain and 3 Sisters overlooks,
Nesika Beach, Patterson Bridge/Mary D. Hume informational spot, and more.
Click here for Part 1,
Part 2
 March
22, 2003, Morning visit to beautiful Bandon-Oregon, Part 1,
Part 2: I started at Face
Rock State Park and headed north along Beach Loop Drive and stopped several
times to take fantastic pictures and movies of the Coquille River Lighthouse and
Bandon Jetty. Click here for
Part 1, Part 2.
 March
04, 2003, Low tide walk on Battle Rock Beach, Part 1,
Part 2:
Jerry and I took a late afternoon walk on Battle Rock Beach. We timed our
visit to coincide with a 4:30pm negative low tide, during our walk we shoot some
fantastic beach level pictures and movies.
 February
26, Big Surf at Hubbards Creek Beach: We take a walk on Hubbards Creek
Beach, soak in some sun, read a good book, and take pics some super big surf
pics.
Click here for more wave and splash images like the one on the right.
 February
12, Morning visit to Cape Blanco Park, Part 1,
Part 2:
Jerry and I take advantage of the wonderful weather and take great pictures of the
Sixes River Valley, Historic Hughes House, Cape Blanco Headland, Lighthouse, and
beach in this two part feature.
You
can view more pics of the Cape Blanco Headland and Lighthouse (like the one on
the left) by clicking here,
Part 2
 February
5, Cape Blanco Sunset: Super sunset and lighthouse photos from Jerry
and my late afternoon visit to Cape Blanco Park and Beach.
You
can view more super sunset pics from Cape Blanco Park and Beach (like the one on the
right) by
clicking here.
 January
14 visit to Battle Rock Park and Beach: Fantastic pics of Battle Rock Park and beach in this
two part photo feature.
You can
view more great images of Battle Rock Park and Beach (like the one on the left) by
clicking here. Part 1,
Part 2
 January
13 visit to the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area: There
are some great Roosevelt Elk pictures in this previous feature that I
shot at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area just east of Reedsport. Also on
this page are images from my visit to Montana's Bitterroot Valley.
Click here to see
some great Roosevelt Elk and Montana pictures!
When possible, I try to post a new feature once
a week so check back often.
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