Iwo Jima Memorial

This memorial is located in Cape Coral, FL, and was made in 1965 where it was first put at the Rose Garden then moved to North First Bank in 1980 and moved in 1997 to its current location. If you’ve ever driven on veterans parkway and you’re looking out on the Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve you may notice some memorials, one of them being the Iwo Jima Memorial. This memorial is for the soldiers that fought in the war between US and Japan, where Iwo Jima was a primary Objective to the US. They fought for 72-hours but with no victory, they were ordered to capture Mount Suribachi where they made the treacherous climb up the mountain when they soon placed the flag. The memorial is 20 feet tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the flag, but this isn’t the only memorial of its kind. There were 2 exact Iwo Jima memorials made by Felix de Weldon, the first one being located in Arlington, VA, and the other being in Cape Coral. The sculpture is full round and is 360 degrees of viewing experience. The sculpture also is a center piece going on veterans parkway and in front of the reserve because of its large scale.

This is the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington, VA which is a staggering 78 feet tall. If you look closely the memorial had 13 hands on the pole but only 6 people pulling it up, this extra hand symbolizes the hand of God. Only 3 of the 6 that we’re pulling up the flag that day survived and had their faces plastered in clay by Felix de Weldon so they could be remembered.

This is the Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve where the Memorial is placed in front. The preserve is a 1.2-mile loop hike to look at wildlife and nature.

This is Mount Suribachi where the soldiers fought on.