Iwo Jima Memorial, Harlingen, Texas

Another week has sped right on by. We went to Mexico for lunch on Tuesday. On Thursday, Bob had a doctor's appointment to get his ingrown toenails trimmed. On Friday we drove about 1/2 hour to the Iwo Jima memorial. This is the orignal memorial that was used to cast the one for Arlington cemetary in Washington, D.C. We were very impressed with the size and details of the statue.

Some statistics about the memorial - the figures are 32 feet high and are shown erecting a 78 foot steel flagpole. They occupy the same positions as in Rosenthal's historic photograph.

Over 6,000 Americans lost their lives in the taking of Iwo Jima. The original projection is that it would take 3 days to take the island, but it actually took 36 days. It was the last stopping off place before Japan and is 660 miles south of Tokyo. It's a very small island, but the 23,000 Japanese defending the island were underground in tunnels and catacombs. The island used to have salt mines underground. Only about 1,000 Japanese survived the battle. Three of the 6 men depicted in the monument died on Iwo Jima.

Saturday morning to we go breakfast with the other Washingtonions here.