It’s rather unusual to witness history from a foxhole, but that was what the late Plainfield Marine Eugene R. Carter saw on February 23, 1945. Carter, who lived to be 100, saw action in the Pacific at the Marshall Islands, Bhutan, and Iwo Jima. The cost in lives at Iwo Jima was staggering, resulting in the most losses in one engagement in Marine Corps history.
During Iwo Jima, Carter looked up from his foxhole and saw the American flag being raised on Mount Suribachi. Photographer Joe Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for the now iconic scene. That photo inspired the US Marine Corps Monument, which is next to the revered Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.
The monument honors the men and women of the Marine Corps who served from 1775 to today. Dedicated in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, it portrays six men raising the flag during the battle. It is no accident that the monument is next to Arlington Cemetery, the nation’s largest National cemetery and the final resting place of more than four hundred thousand people, including veterans, their families, and other notables. Among the veterans are President John F. Kennedy, boxer Joe Louis, and actor Lee Marvin—who rest beside each other.
The Marine Corps War Memorial stands as a symbol of a grateful nation’s esteem for the honored dead of the United States Marine Corps and symbolizes devotion, commitment, and duty to our nation and constitution. Bigger than life, the thirty-two-foot-high figures are shown raising a 60-foot flagpole. The canteen could hold 32 quarts of water.
Jim Oftedal, Commander of the American Legion-Judd Kendall VFW Combined Honor Guard, shared the story of Eugene Carter’s foxhole experience. Carter was there when history was made—a history cast in bronze and built near our nation’s most sacred ground.
PN Update, Nov. 10, 2024 / Honor Guard prepares for Flag Raising
