World War II Monument, (sculpture).

World War II Monument, (sculpture).

Unknown, sculptor.

De Weldon, Felix George Weihs, 1907-2003, sculptor. (copy after)

Rosenthal, Joe, 1911-2006, photographer. (copy after)

World War II Monument, (sculpture).

Dedicated May 24, 1992.

Sculpture: brass or bronze; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 16.5 x 13 x 5.2 ft.; Base: approx. 6 ft. 7 in. x 15 ft. 11 in. x 7 ft. 10 in.

(Center front of base:) World War II/UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE/United States/December 7, 1941 - September 2, 1945/Total Armed Forces 16,000,000/Casualties nearly 406,000/The World/September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945/Six Years and One Day/Total Armed Forces 90,000,000/Casualties 17,000,000 - 1 out of 5/18,000,000 Civilians Died/Fought by more persons from all over the world than any other war./The total number of wounded and missing soldiers and/civilians will never be known./Given in the names of/Stanton Richard Steege - Veteran of W.W. II/Wilhelmina Kuhlmann Steege/George Henry Wanek/Mildred Brand Wanek/By their children/Ronald G. Wanek/Joyce Steel Wanek/May 24, 1992

(Left front of base:) By the end of the war, the United States/was to become the most productive and/powerful nation on earth producing:/300,000 planes/87,000 tanks/2,400,000 trucks/17,900,000 firearms/61,000 pieces of heavy artillery/and millions of tons of explosives and/shells to support the war.

(Right front of base:) U.S. shipyards produced 17 fleet carriers,/9 light carriers, 5 battleships and enough/cruisers, destroyers, escort carriers,/submarines and other combat vessels to/bring the entire total to 1,265 brand new/men-of-war. In addition to producing/combat vessels, U.S. shipyards produced/5,200 other ships./While making the tools of war, the American/people at home fed and clothed themselves,/bought 157,000,000,000 worth of war bonds/and paid the heaviest income taxes in their/history. unsigned

This sculpture is based on Felix George Weihs De Weldon's "United States Marine Corps War Memorial," also known as the "Iwo Jima Monument." Six soldiers in uniform lunge forward with hands around a flagpole, planting it in the ground. An American flag is positioned at the top of the pole. The sculpture is mounted atop a base with a polished, three-sided front containing inscriptions.

History -- United States -- World War II

Portrait male -- Vogel, Bud

Portrait male -- Severson, Russ

Portrait male -- Baecker, Walter

Portrait male -- Steege, Stanton

Portrait male -- Ziehme, Gerald

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

History -- United States -- Flag

Landscape -- Mountain -- Mt. Suribachi

Outdoor Sculpture -- Wisconsin -- Arcadia

Administered by City of Arcadia, Parks Department, Arcadia, Wisconsin 54612

Located Arcadia Memorial Park, City Highway J & Gavney Road, on Soldiers Walk, Arcadia, Wisconsin

The sculpture commemorates all who served during World War II. It was donated by Ron and Joyce Wanek in honor of their parents, Stanton and Wilhelmina Steege and George and Mildred Wanek. Mr. Steege is a World War II veteran. The faces of five of the six soldiers on the sculpture feature the likenesses of Arcadia area veterans Bud Vogel, Russ Severson, Wally Baecker, Stanton Steege, and Gerald Ziehme, one of the original individuals to raise the flag on Iwo Jima. The sixth figure on the sculpture is an anonymous man who represents all soldiers. The sculpture on which this is based, by De Weldon (see IAS VA000244), is a depiction of news photographer Joseph Rosenthal's Pulitzer prize-winning photograph of Marines raising the U.S. flag during World War II on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. The sculpture was dedicated on May 24, 1992 during Memorial Day festivities and Broiler-Dairy Days in Arcadia. IAS files contain related articles from The Arcadia News-Leader (Wisconsin), April 2, 1992 and May 28, 1992; the La Crosse Tribune (Wisconsin), May 22, 1992 and May 25, 1992; and the Winona Daily News (Minnesota), May 23, 1992 and May 25, 1992.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Wisconsin survey, 1993.

La Crosse Tribune (Wisconsin), May 25, 1992.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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