The memory of those who fought in the terrible battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during the Pacific War in February-March 1945 is honoured by the bronze statue of Felix de Weldon (1954). The monument of the US Marine Corps War Memorial, in Arlington, is directly inspired by the photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima that earned Joe Rosenthal the Pulitzer prize. This photograph of GIs planting the flag of victory is now an icon of American history.