Ira Hamilton Hayes, born January 12, 1923, died January 24, 1955 was a Pima Native American and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. Ira Hamilton Hayes is a World War II veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was trained as a Paramarine in the United States Marine Corps (USMC), and turned-out to be one of 5 Marines immortalized in the famous photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.
Hayes is the son of Joseph E. and Nancy W from Gila River Indian Reservation in Sacaton, Arizona. He dropped-out of high school and later enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves on August 24, 1942.
It was on February 19, 1945, Hayes landed in Iwo Jima for the battle. He was among the group of Marines that captured Mount Suribachi 5 days later on February 23, 1945.
The raising of the 2nd American flag on Suribachi by 5 Marines, Ira Hayes, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Rene Gagnon, and Mike Strank, and a Navy Corpsman, John Bradley, was captured for life by a photographer Joe Rosenthal and it turned out to be an icon of the war. Quickly, Hayes became a national hero, along with the two other survivors in the famous photograph, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley.
It is interesting to note that Hayes advanced to the rank of Corporal by the time he took an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. He had numerous decorations and medals bestowed
Post war, Hayes tried leading a normal civilian life.
He said:
"I kept getting hundreds of letters. And people would drive through the reservation, walk up to me and ask, ‘Are you the Indian who raised the flag on Iwo Jima’?"
He hardly ever spoke about the flag raising, nevertheless spoke with great pride about his service in the Marine Corps.
Sadly at 32, Hayes was found dead on January 24, 1955, lying face down on the ground in his own vomit and blood, near an deserted hut close to his home on the Gila River Indian Reservation. He had been consuming alcohol and playing cards with his brothers Kenny and Vernon, and another fellow Pima Indian named Henry Setoyant. An argument is alleged to have broken with Henry Setoyant and a scuffle ensued and it is alleged that it might have been the cause for the death. There was no police investigation, and Setoyant denied any allegations that he scuffled with Hayes after all the players left for the night.
Hayes’ tragic story was once again immortalized in a song as he was, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," by Peter LaFarge.
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The Ballad Of Ira Hayes Lyrics. Find the video below:
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Ira Hayes, Ira Hayes
[CHORUS:] Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won’t answer anymore Not the whiskey drinkin’ Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Gather round me people there’s a story I would tell About a brave young Indian you should remember well From the land of the Pima Indian A proud and noble band Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land
Down the ditches for a thousand years The water grew Ira’s peoples’ crops ‘Till the white man stole the water rights And the sparklin’ water stopped
Now Ira’s folks were hungry And their land grew crops of weeds When war came, Ira volunteered And forgot the white man’s greed
[CHORUS:] Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won’t answer anymore Not the whiskey drinkin’ Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
There they battled up Iwo Jima’s hill, Two hundred and fifty men But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again
And when the fight was over And when Old Glory raised Among the men who held it high Was the Indian, Ira Hayes
[CHORUS:] Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won’t answer anymore Not the whiskey drinkin’ Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Ira returned a hero Celebrated through the land He was wined and speeched and honored; Everybody shook his hand
But he was just a Pima Indian No water, no crops, no chance At home nobody cared what Ira’d done And when did the Indians dance
[CHORUS:] Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won’t answer anymore Not the whiskey drinkin’ Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Then Ira started drinkin’ hard; Jail was often his home They’d let him raise the flag and lower it like you’d throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk one mornin’ Alone in the land he fought to save Two inches of water in a lonely ditch Was a grave for Ira Hayes
[CHORUS:] Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won’t answer anymore Not the whiskey drinkin’ Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes But his land is just as dry And his ghost is lyin’ thirsty In the ditch where Ira died
[Picture Courtesy: Wikipedia.org]
