US Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington

openas of 2026-10-011954World · Ukrainian tracesUSA

Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0 · source

The six in bronze from Rosenthal’s photograph; one of them is Strank, though there are no names on the monument.

Felix de Weldon’s bronze was unveiled on 10 November 1954 — the birthday of the Marine Corps and, by coincidence, Michael Strank’s birthday. It recreates Joe Rosenthal’s photograph from Suribachi: six Marines raising the flag, with Strank’s figure among them. The monument bears the words “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”, but the names of the six flag-raisers are not on it — worth knowing so you don’t search for them. The Slovak embassy marks the sergeant’s birthday here every year.