The bronze cast statue stands over 78 feet tall, including the granite base. It is more commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial because the memorial is modeled after the 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the second flag raising on Iwo Jima by Associated Press photographer, Joe Rosenthal.

The Iwo Jima Memorial is located outside of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington Ridge Park in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. The memorial can be accessed by car via the VA-110 South route or US-50 East or West routes.

Iwo Jima, a small island located 660 miles south of Tokyo, was the last territory that U.S. troops recaptured from the Japanese during World War II. On February 19, 1945 about 70,000 marines invaded the small Pacific Island of Iwo Jima which was under control of the Japanese army. The island was a strategic objective due to its airfield which was used for kamikaze attacks.

By capturing the island, the Allied Forces would not only prevent attacks from the island but it would also give them a base from where the Japanese mainland could be reached by B-29 Superfortresses.

The Iwo Jima Memorial statue depicts the scene of the flag raising by five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman that signaled the successful takeover of the island.