Message regarding the Missoula Memorial

Update 06-04-04

USS MISSOULA MEMORIAL FUND RAISING CONTINUES

Fund raising activities for the USS Missoula Memorial to be erected at Fort Missoula, MT continues with the target goal having been reduced to $80,000 .The permanent memorial, to be constructed on ground donated by the Northern Rockies Heritage Center, will honor the ship and men who provided the first flag that flew over Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1946. The 20-ton monument constructed of Vermont granite will be a lasting testament to the ship's 536 officers and crewmen who were , in fact, instrumental in the raising of two flags on this strategic island situated at Japan's doorstep. Formal dedication is planned for Labor Day, 5 September 2005.

Six Marine infantrymen raised the ensign flag of the USS Missoula on the highest point of the barren volcanic island. It was the first foreign flag to ever fly over Japanese soil. Four hours later a second larger flag, the subject of Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph, replaced the smaller one fom the Missoula. All twelve men who hoisted the two flags sailed from Pearl Harbor to their destiny aboard the USS Missoula. The Rosenthal photo was the model for the US Marine Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

Launched 20 June 1944 at Richmond CA, the Missoula served in some of the fiercest  battles of the war including  those at Saipan, Tulagi, and Okinawa. The ship was present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the armistice with Japan on 2 September 1945 before being decommissioned in 1958 and sold for scrap in 1975. Many readers of James Bradley's best selling book Flags of Our Fathers learned of the USS MIssoula's exploits  for the first time. In addition to dispatching invasion troops the ship served as a floating hospital for wounded Marines. Nearly 6,800 Americans were killed in action during the month long Iwo Jima campaign in which 21,000 Japanese died.

Your tax free contribution is supported by the  501(c)3 sponsorship of the Navy League of the United States. Please send your most earnestly appreciated contribution  to the following institution payable to:
      
                         USS MISSOULA MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 

% Wells Fargo Bank                     All other inquires only may be directed to
1800 Russell Sreet                           Doug Hacker
Missoula, MT 59801                         6553 East Dutch Creek Street
Attention: Robb Hedrick                    Highlands Ranch, CO 80130
(406) 327-6223                                 haughleigh@aol.com
robert.a.hedrick@wellsfargo.com