From staff reports
The Parris Island Heritage Foundation is hosting the Iron Mike Bike Tour from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 5 on Marine Corps Recruiting Depot Parris Island.
During the event, which is free and open to the public, participants can see the Iron Mike statue and learn more about the history of Parris Island.
On July 25, 1924, in a ceremony reviewed by USMC Commandant Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, the Iron Mike statue was unveiled on Parris Island. It was the first war memorial specifically for Parris Island-trained Marines who fought during World War I.
According to the Parris Island Heritage Foundation, Brig. Gen. Eli Cole (1867-1929) had been the loudest voice for a monument to be erected that would honor the Marines who fought during The Great War. He also had the backing of highly decorated Lt. Col. Frank Evans and The National Academy of Design of New York City, as well as many other Marine Corps veterans who supported the project.
Cole sought out world-renowned sculptor Robert Ingersoll Aitken, Captain of a machine gun unit in the U.S. Army’s 306th Infantry Regiment during The Great War.
In correspondence with Lejeune, Cole stated, “As the result of considerable correspondence and interest displayed by Lt. Col. Evans, as well as the president of the National Academy, I have a proposal from Capt. Robert Aitken to erect the memorial here at a cost within the amount we have on hand — any sum left over I contemplate using to improve the grounds surrounding the actual location of the site of the statue, putting in walks, etc., to make it as nearly as possible a complete and harmonious whole.”
For more information on the event, visit https://www.mcrdpi.marines.mil/Visitors/Parris-Island-Museum/ or https://www.mcrdpi.marines.mil/Visitors/Base-Access/ or call 843-228-2951.
