Icarus Statue to be Rededicated on AFIT Campus

  • Published
  • By Bill Hancock
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  On September 21, the statue of Icarus will be rededicated at its permanent home on the Air Force Institute of Technology campus.

In 1998, the AFIT Foundation initiated, commissioned, and funded, through contributions, the construction of a memorial to graduates of the Air Force Institute of Technology from the Air Force and Army Air Corps who lost their lives while in service to our country. Upon completion, the monument was offered as a gift to the Department of the Air Force and, under the provisions of Title 10, United States Code, Section 2601, accepted.

The AFIT Foundation is a private organization founded in 1986. It is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in the State of Ohio for the purpose of furthering the goals of the Air Force Institute of Technology.

While originally planned for the center of the AFIT campus, circumstances at the time forecasted the closure of AFIT and arrangements were made so the memorial could be displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. However, AFIT survived and today continues to thrive, sparking the decision to bring the statue back home.

Why Icarus?

The AFIT Foundation determined the ancient Greek legend of Daedalus and his son Icarus captured the dream of flight and the associated risks of flying.

As the story goes, Father and son were imprisoned together in the Labyrinth on the Isle of Crete, they escaped on wings fashioned by Daedalus from feathers and wax. But Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he fell to his death in the Aegean Sea as his father flew to freedom filled with sorrow for his loss. Though Icarus fell, he gained his freedom by daring to fly.

The Icarus Memorial remembers the graduates of the Air Force Institute of Technology who gave their lives in service to our country.

Icarus statue statistics: Height with base: 22 feet tall. Total weight is approximately 18,000 lbs.
The statue is made up of 95% Copper, 5% Nickel, and the base is made of mahogany. Icarus was designed and fabricated by Karkadoulias Bronze Art, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio.