Iwo Jima Monument to Be Auctioned-- Part 2

The new, smaller monument, was completed in three months and stood in front of what is now the Federal reserve Building on Constitution Avenue.  It remained there until 1947 when it was moved to make way for a new building.

At the same time, the government authorized a foundation for Felix de Weldon to build the larger 32-foot one.  The 12 1/2 one was returned to de Weldon who covered it with a tarp where it remained for four decades.

Then it came to the attention of military historian and collector Rodney Hilton Brown who was researching for a biography on de Welson who then bought it from the sculptor in 1990.  He paid de Weldon with "a Stradivarus violin, a 1920s solid silver Newport yachting trophy and a lot of money" according to Brown.

Felix de Weldon died in 2003.

--GreGen