Iwo Jima Monument and Memorial Museum

January 29, 2018

The Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas, a college preparatory academy based on the traditions and ideals of the United States Marine Corps, is home to the original plaster model of the Marine Corps War Memorial, which pictures six marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.  Sculptor Dr. Felix de Weldon donated the piece to the Academy.

Harlon Block, one of the six Marines portrayed in the sculpture lived in the Rio Grande Valley where we have been staying.  Block’s ring is exhibited in a museum at the memorial.

105mm U.S. Howitzer shell from the beach on Iwo Jima

The Museum contained a model of the Tun Tavern which served as the birthplace of charitable societies, the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple, the Pennsylvania Militia, and the U.S. Marine Corps.  The Continental Congress authorized the raising of two battalions of Continental Marines in November 1775.  The chief recruiter owned the tavern and used it as his headquarters.

Driving the near the monument one night, we realized it was beautiful in the dark.