Wrong Carbines on Iwo Jima Memorial

We're all familiar with this picture of Pfc James Michaels holding his Carbine at the ready after the first flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, February 23rd 1945. Sgt Henry Hansen (cloth cap) is also carrying a Carbine.

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Then came the second raising of a larger flag that produced the iconic picture snapped by Joe Rosenthal. In this picture the only weapon that is clearly visible is the M1 Garand of Pfc Michael Sousley, second from the left. If you look closely you can just make out the muzzle of Pfc Ira Hayes' Carbine, farthest left. Hidden behind Pfc Hayes and Pfc Sousley is Sgt Michael Strank who also carried a Carbine but it is not visible.

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Based on Joe Rosenthal's picture, the Marine Corps War Memorial (also called the Iwo Jima Memorial) was commissioned in 1951 and dedicated on November 10th 1954, the 179th birthday of the Marine Corps. What caught my eye is in this picture of the Memorial is you can see the barrel and what appears to be a type 3 band on the Carbine over Pfc Ira Hayes' left shoulder.

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In this picture of the Marines celebrating after the raising of the second flag you can see seated far left, Pfc Hayes holding his Carbine sans bayonet lug.

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Here is a closeup of the Carbines of Sgt Strank (left) and Pfc Hayes (right) as sculpted on the Memorial. Supposedly Winchester did produce some type 3 banded carbines with type 2 rear sights starting in November 1944, but the chances of those getting to the Marines deployed in the field by February 1945 were slim and none.

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Unlike Carbine collectors weapons, the value of this Memorial cannot be reduced because the parts are wrong. What these men did is beyond belief. Three of the six flag raisers in the second picture were killed on Iwo. They were part of the almost seven thousands brave Americans who lost there lives in addition to the more than nineteen thousand wounded, all of this in just five weeks.

27 U.S. military personnel were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions, 14 of them posthumously. Of the 27 medals awarded for the actions at Iwo Jima, 22 were presented to Marines and five were presented to United States Navy sailors, four of whom were hospital corpsmen; this was 28 percent of the 82 Medals of Honor awarded to Marines in the entirety of World War II in the Pacific. (Source Wikipedia)

Semper Fi

The memorial was made by Felix de Weldon. The Marines supplied him the equipment worn then but gave him a rebuilt carbine to use as an example. It had the type 3 barrel band on it and he just copied it as he was not told otherwise. The carbines also have the type 2 adjustable rear sights too. There is a much smaller version of this he donated to the Navy War Collage in Newport Rhode Island where de Weldon lived.

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Originally Posted by Bruce McAskill

The memorial was made by Felix de Weldon. The Marines supplied him the equipment worn then but gave him a rebuilt carbine to use as an example. It had the type 3 barrel band on it and he just copied it as he was not told otherwise. The carbines also have the type 2 adjustable rear sights too. There is a much smaller version of this he donated to the Navy War Collage in Newport Rhode Island where de Weldon lived.

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A project of this size of the Iwo Jima Memoial would have had technical advisers to the artist, Felix de Weldon, those advisers slipped up on this one. Mr. de Weldon paid close attention to detail including having the three survivors model for the sculpture. If you notice, the men carrying Carbines have the correct cartridge belts. Also notice Pfc Ira Hayes has his poncho tucked into the back of his cartridge belt.

In the greater scheme of things the Carbines are no big deal, just interesting from a collectors point of view. Thank God no one gave the artist a BAR or a Thompson.