This setback almost put an end to the memorial but though the tenacity of a Marine General almost all of the funds were recovered and construction on the memorial resumed. On the 176th birthday of the Marine Corps November 10th, 1954 the memorial was unveiled and for those who witnessed the unveiling this was a new kind of monument, which was stuck in accuracy and realism. On the base of the Memorial is inscribed all the battles that were fought in which Marines gave their lives. Another inscription read Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue also inscribed was the names of the six individuals who the memorial depicts. Three of the six would never know that they were immortalized for all time; they died before the end of the war. A forth died shortly after the dedication. A simple act of pride transformed these individuals into national heroes, immortalized for all time in bronze. As in any sculpture, painting, or work of art, line is important, lines determine the beginning and the end, and it allows various objects to be separated. The lines in this sculpture are used with such realism that it is easy to see the individual pieces of the sculpture but to remove any of the pieces would remove the true meaning of the sculpture. Felix de Weldon reproduced a true, beyond realistic copy of the original photo thereby allowing the viewer to asses there own feelings or ideas as what went on the morning of February 19, 1945. There are many hundreds of drawings, statues and copies of the original photograph and you will find that many of them have small but insignificant differences. It is not the difficulty of the process of reproduction that causes the differences. The differences lie in the reproduction of the idea on which the photo represents.The memorial is immense in size; each figure alone is 33 feet high and is sculptured in true 3 dimensional form. With its size and its unbelievable detail, this renders the memorial as a true inspirat...
