Iron Mike statue next to La Fiere bridge in Normandy, France.
Iron Mike is the de facto name of various monuments commemorating servicemen of the United States military. The term "Iron Mike" is uniquely American slang used to refer to men who are especially tough, brave, and inspiring; it was originally a nautical term for a gyrocompass, used to keep a ship on an unwavering course.[1][2][3] Because the use of the slang term was popular in the first half of the 20th century, many statues from that period acquired the Iron Mike nickname, and over the generations the artists' titles were largely forgotten. Even official military publications and classroom texts tend to prefer the nickname to the original titles.
At the end of the war, US ArmyGeneralJohn J. Pershing commissioned the French sculptor Charles Raphaël Peyre (sometimes Raphael Charles, 1872—1949) to commemorate the service of the US Army’s "doughboys". The sculptor, unaware of the differences between the branches of service, used a Marine private as a model and included the Eagle, Globe and Anchor insignia on the helmet. When Pershing saw the finished product, he insisted that the insignia be removed. The artist would not allow his work to be censored, so the army declined to buy the statue.[citation needed]
Finally, Marine Corps General Smedley Butler raised enough money to buy the statue and had it installed in front of the headquarters building at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.[6] The statue was begun in 1918 and first exhibited at the Exposition des Beaux Arts of the Grand Palaise des Champs-Élysées, in Paris in May 1919. Marine Officers and Enlisted donated money to purchase the statue, and it was sited in front of the Base Headquarters, Building 1019, in Quantico, Virginia, some 75 miles from DC and a bit off the tourist trail. Three tablets were erected in the memory of the officers and men of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion, 5th Regiment and 6th Regiment, United States Marines, "who gave their lives for their country in the World War in 1918" by the Thomas Roberts Reath, Marine Post No. 186, American Legion, on November 10, 1921. On December 8, 1921, the statue was dedicated.
The Iron Mike at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial at Belleau Wood battlefield is a bronzerelief on granite, simply entitled The Marine Memorial. It was sculpted by Felix Weihs de Weldon, the artist who had earlier designed the giant Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The monument was erected in the heart of the forest to honor the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments of the 4th Marine Brigade which fought there for twenty days in June 1918. Dedicated on November 18, 1955, this Iron Mike is the only memorial in Europe dedicated solely to the United States Marines.[7][8]
Below the statue is a commemorative plaque with a large Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. The plaque includes a brief history of the battle with text in both English and French. The four ton monolith of bon accord granite, the same as used in the base of the Marine Corps War Memorial, came from Karlshamn, Sweden. Together with the seven foot tall Marine with bayonet, admired by the senior French present at its dedication as "very powerful and forceful ... fully embodying the spirit of the Marines," and accompanying plaque, the monument weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,100kg).[9]
The battle was the bloodiest of the U.S. Marine Corps' history at that point and the 5th and 6th Regiments were awarded the French Fourragère and Croix de Guerre. Following the war, as noted on the plaque, the French government renamed the forest "Bois de la Brigade de Marine." Officiating at the monument's dedication ceremony was then Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., who had fought and was wounded at Belleau Wood 37 years earlier.[8][10] Also in attendance, were three other Marine General Officers who had also fought at Belleau Wood. Together the four Generals, Shepherd, William A. Worton, Gerald C. Thomas, and Alfred H. Noble, made for a unique gathering of senior Marines in Europe.[9]
Parris Island, South Carolina
Parris Island's Iron Mike after relocation
Parris Island's Iron Mike is depicted carrying a Maxim machine gun over his right shoulder and an M1911 pistol in his raised left hand, created as a memorial to all of the Parris Island graduates who were killed during World War I.
Parris Island's Iron Mike dedication in 1924
The statue itself is approximately life-sized, standing about 8 feet (2.4m) high from the heel of his boot to the muzzle of his pistol, and is mounted on a 5-foot (1.5m) granite base. It was created by Robert Ingersoll Aitken, the sculptor of the pediment on the United States Supreme Court Building, and cast in bronze. Officially entitled Monument to U.S. Marines, this Iron Mike was dedicated in 1924 in a ceremony presided over by Commandant John A. Lejeune. Due to changes and construction around Parris Island, Iron Mike was relocated in 1941 and it now stands in front of the Parris Island Headquarters and Service Battalion Barracks.[11]
The bronze plaque, mounted on the base, reads: "In memory of the men of Parris Island who gave their lives in the World War, erected by their comrades."[12]
A digital model of the original was created and used as a guide for the new version to ensure faithful replication of Hiebert's design. A ceremony to dedicate the new version was held September 23, 2005.
President George W. Bush spoke in front of the statue on July 4, 2006.[17]
La Fiere replica
A replica of The Airborne Trooper stands above the bridge at La Fiere in Normandy, where on June 6–9, 1944 members of 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, both elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, fought a fierce battle against repeated German attacks. The small stone bridge over the Merderet River was a key point for the Germans to take in order to break up the American landing at Utah Beach, while at the same time being key to the Americans so that they could expand their beachhead in Normandy. Over the course of the battle, the Germans attacked the lightly armed Americans with both infantry and armor but were never able to cross the bridge.[18] The monument was unveiled on June 7, 1997.[19]
The University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus also has a statue known as Iron Mike. Designed by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson and installed in 1906, the statue stands in front of the armory at 15 Church Street. Also known as the "Student Soldier Memorial", this Iron Mike is a monument to alumni who served in the Spanish–American War.[20] The statue is 9 feet (2.7m) tall and stands on a 6-foot (1.8m) granite base, depicting a soldier clad in a period uniform with a campaign hat and a Krag-Jørgensen rifle.
The actual name of the sculpture is The Hiker. Thirty-nine copies of Kitson's Hiker are still in existence, spread across the United States from Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine to Capitol Park in Sacramento, California. The University of Minnesota's "Iron Mike" is one of the oldest Hikers in the U.S., possibly rivaled by one in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[21]
Others
There are many other similar statues throughout the United States, most of them World War I monuments. The most well-known is a sculpture by Ernest Moore Viquesney entitled Spirit of the American Doughboy. While the original statue design itself never received the nickname "Iron Mike", residents of some of the locales in which the copies can be found refer to their local monuments as such.
The U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Moore has a World War II monument entitled Follow Me. It is often mistakenly referred to as "Iron Mike."[22]
Fort Lewis, Washington, is home to a statue entitled The Infantryman, which is often referred to as "Iron Mike". Located at Tacoma Avenue and 41st Division Road (since 1992), and set with a backdrop of Mount Rainier, the 18-foot-tall (5.5m) statue was erected in 1964 to memorialize the soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division. Its design, an early Vietnam-era U.S. infantryman equipped with the M14 rifle, was inspired by the "Iron Mike" at Fort Liberty, and is made from the same fiberglass-on-iron as the original there. Despite a history centered on infantry training, it was the first monument on Fort Lewis dedicated to the infantryman.[23]
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow has a ridge that is used during training that is nicknamed "Iron Mike" due to the steepness of the terrain and determination it takes to run up without stopping. Another running course at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Camp Horno, shares the name as well.
The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas with a U.S. Department of Defense mandate to be "on-call to fight any time, anywhere" at "the knife's edge of technology and readiness." Primarily based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division.
Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with over 52,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cumberland and Hoke counties, and borders the towns of Fayetteville, Spring Lake, and Southern Pines.
The United States Marine Corps War Memorial is a national memorial located in Arlington County, Virginia. The memorial was dedicated in 1954 to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of the United States since 1775. It is located in Arlington Ridge Park within the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near the Ord-Weitzel Gate to Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon. The memorial was turned over to the National Park Service in 1955.
Lieutenant General John Randolph Vines is the former commander of the U.S. Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and Multi-National Corps – Iraq.
Felix Weihs de Weldon was an American sculptor. His most famous pieces include the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, US, and the Malaysian National Monument (1966) in Kuala Lumpur.
The Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) was a command of the United States Army, with a mission of high readiness, active in the 1960s. In 1961 it was merged into the United States Strike Command (STRICOM). The word "STRAC" was also used to describe a well organized, well turned-out soldier or unit.
The Battle of Belleau Wood was a major battle that occurred during the German spring offensive in World War I, near the Marne River in France. The battle was fought by the U.S. 2nd and 3rd Divisions along with French and British forces against an assortment of German units including elements from the 237th, 10th, 197th, 87th, and 28th Divisions. The battle has become a key component of United States Marine Corps lore.
Lemuel Cornick Shepherd Jr. was a General in the United States Marine Corps, 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Navy Cross recipient, veteran of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Lieutenant General William Pelham Yarborough was a senior United States Army officer. Yarborough designed the U.S. Army's parachutist badge, paratrooper or 'jump' boots, and the M42 airborne jump uniform. He is known as the "Father of the Modern Green Berets." He was descended from the Yorkshire House of Yarborough. Yarborough was a distant cousin to such British noble figures as the Baron Deramore, Lord Alvingham, the Duke of Buccleugh and the Marquess of Bath.
Follow Me is a United States Army memorial located at Fort Moore, Georgia. It was created in 1959 by two soldiers, Private First Class Manfred Bass, sculptor and designer, and Private First Class Karl H. Van Krog, his assistant. The model for the statue was Eugene Wyles, an officer candidate and twenty-year Army veteran. It depicts a 1950s-era infantry soldier charging forward and gesturing for others to follow.
Robert Frederick Sink was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II and the Korean War, though he was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division, throughout most of World War II, in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
David Ellsworth Grange Jr. was a lieutenant general in the United States Army.
The Battle of Cantigny, fought May 28, 1918 was the first major American battle and offensive of World War I. The U.S. 1st Division, the most experienced of the five American divisions then in France and in reserve for the French Army near the village of Cantigny, was selected for the attack. The objective of the attack was both to reduce a small salient made by the German Army in the front lines but also to instill confidence among the French.
Gerald Carthrae Thomas was a United States Marine Corps general who served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1956 with more than 38 years of distinguished service which included duty on four continents, spanning the two World Wars, Haiti, and the Korean War. During World War I, he fought in major offensives, including the Battle of Belleau Wood, and was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
Erected in 1927, the Victory Monument, is a bronze and granite sculptural monument, based on a concept by John A. Nyden, and sculpted by Leonard Crunelle. It was built to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served with distinction in France during World War I. It may be the only memorial statue dedicated to African-American soldiers of the Great War.
Ernest Moore Viquesney was an American sculptor best known for his popular World War I monument Spirit of the American Doughboy.
The Washington Avenue Soldier's Monument is located at the junction of that street and Lafayette Avenue in the village of Suffern, New York, United States. It sits on a small piece of land in the middle of the street known locally as the Triangle.
Doughboy Park is a 1.71-acre (6,900 m2) New York City public park in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens. It is located on a hilly parcel of land between Skillman Avenue and Woodside Avenue, and between 54th Street and 56th Street.
Major General Michael D. Healy was a general officer in the United States Army who spent 35 years serving in the military, completing tours in Korea and Vietnam. Healy began his career with parachute training in Japan, then attended a number of Army Colleges, including Ranger School. He entered the Korean War as a Company Commander with the Airborne Rangers, a newly formed unit of the Army. Most of his career was spent in Vietnam, where he served five and a half tours, leading the 5th Special Forces Group for almost 20 months, and earning him his first Distinguished Service Medal.
Major General Carl H. Freeman, USA is a retired American Quartermaster officer and former chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board, Washington, D.C.
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