Project: Build a spectacular Iwo Jima Flag Raising Memorial at Camp Pendleton, facing the Iwo Jima coordinates across the Pacific. Site it on a hillside viewable adjacent to the PVEC (aka SNCO Club), for Marines, and the public transversing I-5, and offshore, a permanent symbol of American courage and sacrifice.

Fentress Architects has previously designed and built the magnificent National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, VA. One of the most respected and honored US architects in the field of public buildings, Fentress has taken the vision of Iwo Jima Monument West, non-profit, and turned it into a proposal that will become the most significant symbol of the USMC on the Pacific coast.

Lit at night 24/7, the monument will shine like a beacon of freedom to all who see it, an icon of American history, and resonate with all who see it. The tantamount example of courage, it will stand for hundreds of years so that the legacy will never be forgotten!

Fentress presented his design at a national unveiling in front of 13 Iwo Jima veterans at “The Celebration of Courage” event, Newport Beach, CA sponsored by Iwo Jima Monument West, October 31, 2015. His remarks can be seen here by all Marines and Americans . Support building this magnificent tribute that displays American courage and determination. That is the USMC!!

MISSION: OPERATION HOME OF THE BRAVE

To fund an Iwo Jima Flag Raising monument and memorial site at Camp Pendleton to make all who see it reflect and pay their respects to Marines who have, and will continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States of America;

To not only inspire but educate all Americans that we are, as our national anthem says, “the home of the free, the home of the brave”, through inscriptions and visual aids that tell the story on site;

To teach that the famous image of the flag raising by Associated Press combat photographer Joseph Rosenthal “electrified” was weary Americans and became the symbol of the most successful war bond drive (“The Mighty 7^th”) in WWII; the image from the photograph was adopted in multiple modalities and became essentially an American icon; it was the most reproduced photograph in all of WWII;

Visible to millions at the proposed location, near Interstate 5, and lit at night for aircraft and ships to see, we at Iwo Jima Monument West are projecting that it will become a landmark, at night aglow in lighting, servicing as a beacon of freedom that reinforces that “uncommon valor” remains in the American spirit. May God continue to bless America.

LEGAL ENTITY: IWO JIMA MONUMENT WEST

A 50l c 3 charity was established on 11/15/13 to accept private donations to fund this project. The IRS final determination as fully tax deductible was approved on May 19, 2014 (EIN: 46-7128553).

ADDRESS

Iwo Jima Monument West
3334 E. Coast Hwy, #155
Corona del Mar CA 92625
Tel: (833) IWO-JIMA
Tel: (833) 496-5462
24/7 Message Line.

LEADERSHIP

Founder and Trustee, Iwo Jima Monument West

• Laura B Dietz

Founder Laura Dietz with Sgt. Major “Iron Mike” Mervosh, USMC R.I.P.

HONORARY NATIONAL CHAIRMEN

• CMOH Cpl. Hershel “Woody” Williams, USMC retired, WA
• Sgt. Major William Paxton+ – USMC retired

ADVISORS (partial list)

• Col. Michael G. Naylor – USMC retired
• Col. Gregory S. Raths – USMC retired
• Col. David Severance** (5th) – USMC retired
• Sgt. Major Walter Valentine* (3rd ) – USMC retired
• Cpl. Robert Mueller** (5th) – USMC retired
• Sgt. James Gularte*** – USMC retired
• Duke Windsor, Director, USS Midway Exhibits (USMCR)
• Ann Rosenthal (Wolf), daughter of Joseph Rosenthal, art conservationist, San Rafael, CA
• Col. Warren Wiedhahn, USMC retired. IJAA Executive Director, VA
• Bonnie Arnold Haynes (widow, General Fred Haynes, founder Iwo Jima Survivors Association) NJ
• Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Gene Overstreet (USMC retired) TX
• Ray Elliott, USMC retired, Board, 5th MAR DIV Association IL

*Purple Heart
+Father died on Iwo Jima

FRIENDS (partial list)

• Lt. General Terry Robling,  USMC Retired, CO MARFORPAC, Poway, CA
• Hershel “Woody” Williams, USMC Retired, Recipient Congressional Medal of Honor, Iwo Jima, West Virginia
• Capt. and Mrs. Richard Bertea (Hyla), USMC Retired; President Whitecross LLP, Newport Beach, CA
• Sgt. Major Frank Pulley, USMC Retired, 1st MARDIV, MCRD-SD History Museum Board, Murietta, CA
• Bonnie Arnold Haynes, widow, General Fred Haynes, Iwo Jima, on the IJAA Board; 5th Marine Division Association Board; TV Producer, Hackettown, NJ
• Dr. Charles Neimeyer (USMC Retired) Director History Division, MCB Quantico, VA
• Gail Chatfield, Iwo Jima Committee, Camp Pendleton, San Diego, CA

CONSULTANTS

• Curt Fentress, AIA Fentress Architects (winner design/build competition), Denver
• Richard Dodd, AIA, LEED, designed/built the original Pendleton SNCO Club, Tustin
• Randy Robbins, AIA, AVPR Studios, San Diego (architect USS Midway exhibits)
• Tom Bollinger, Bollinger Atelier, Tempe AZ
• Jay Jones, Always On PR, NYC
• Duke Windsor,  USMCR, former Director of Exhibits USS Midway, San Diego
• Robert Rasch, Balog and Rasch Law, Newport Beach
• F. Scott Jackson, Jackson Tidus Law, Irvine
• Ross Minion, Powerpoint, technical support, Newport Beach
• 1EZ Consulting Services, Website, Newport Beach
• Miller Farm Media, videographers, Tustin
• Design by Deats, Woodland Hills
• Artwork, Lara Phillips Leone, Huntington Beach
• Wynkoop & Associates, CPA Newport Beach