Iron Mike
LOL is not something I do often when researching the photos I post - but I certainly did on this occasion!
The above statue can be found in the grounds of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA. It depicts a US Marine of World War I holding a 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifle, wearing a pack and sheathed bayonet. His pose is described as 'looking to the proper left.' It is a copy of an original that today stands in front of Butler Hall at Quantico. The original was commissioned from the French sculptor Charles Raphael Peyre at the end of the Great War.
The funny part is that it was originally nothing to do with the US Marine Corps. It was commissioned by US Army General John J Pershing who wanted 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. 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.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Pershing first saw the finished product - I suspect puce and apoplectic are words that might have been needed to describe his reaction. He insisted that the helmet insignia be removed, but the artist would not allow his work to be censored, so the Army declined to buy the statue.
Marine Corps General Smedley Butler raised enough money through subscriptions from Marine Corps officers and men to buy the statue and had it installed in front of the headquarters building at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where it was dedicated on 8 December 1921.
The Iron Mike label is the de facto name of various monuments commemorating servicemen of the US military. The term is uniquely American slang used to refer to men who are especially tough, brave, and inspiring. Because the use of the slang term was popular in the first half of the 20th century, many statues from that period acquired the nickname, and over the generations the artists' titles were in many cases largely forgotten. Even official military publications and classroom texts tend to prefer the nickname to the original titles. The above replica is labelled Iron Mike, whilst the original still has its correct original title of "Crusading for Right."
Iron Mike
LOL is not something I do often when researching the photos I post - but I certainly did on this occasion!
The above statue can be found in the grounds of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA. It depicts a US Marine of World War I holding a 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifle, wearing a pack and sheathed bayonet. His pose is described as 'looking to the proper left.' It is a copy of an original that today stands in front of Butler Hall at Quantico. The original was commissioned from the French sculptor Charles Raphael Peyre at the end of the Great War.
The funny part is that it was originally nothing to do with the US Marine Corps. It was commissioned by US Army General John J Pershing who wanted 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. 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.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Pershing first saw the finished product - I suspect puce and apoplectic are words that might have been needed to describe his reaction. He insisted that the helmet insignia be removed, but the artist would not allow his work to be censored, so the Army declined to buy the statue.
Marine Corps General Smedley Butler raised enough money through subscriptions from Marine Corps officers and men to buy the statue and had it installed in front of the headquarters building at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where it was dedicated on 8 December 1921.
The Iron Mike label is the de facto name of various monuments commemorating servicemen of the US military. The term is uniquely American slang used to refer to men who are especially tough, brave, and inspiring. Because the use of the slang term was popular in the first half of the 20th century, many statues from that period acquired the nickname, and over the generations the artists' titles were in many cases largely forgotten. Even official military publications and classroom texts tend to prefer the nickname to the original titles. The above replica is labelled Iron Mike, whilst the original still has its correct original title of "Crusading for Right."