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| Hayes and the other five flag-raisers became national heroes as a result of Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph. After the war, he was instrumental in confirming the true identity of one of the misidentified and deceased Marines in the photograph, Cpl. ]. He was never comfortable with his new-found fame, however, and after his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps he descended into alcoholism. He died of exposure to cold and alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking on January 24, 1955. He was buried with full military honors at ] on February 2, 1955. | Hayes and the other five flag-raisers became national heroes as a result of Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph. After the war, he was instrumental in confirming the true identity of one of the misidentified and deceased Marines in the photograph, Cpl. ]. He was never comfortable with his new-found fame, however, and after his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps he descended into alcoholism. He died of exposure to cold and alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking on January 24, 1955. He was buried with full military honors at ] on February 2, 1955. | ||
| He was often commemorated in art and film, both before and after his death. He portrayed himself |
He was often commemorated in art and film, both before and after his death. He portrayed himself raising the flag in the motion picture movie, '']'', in 1949. A giant Marine figure of him raising the flag on Iwo Jima is included with the other five flag-raisers figures of the 1954 ] in ]. His life story was the subject of the movie, '']'', in 1961, which inspired ]'s song , ''The Ballad of Ira Hayes'', made famous in 1964 when it was sung by ]. He was also portrayed by an actor in the World War II movie, '']'', in 2006. | ||
| ==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
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| ;Bond tour | ;Bond tour | ||
| Hayes and his unit left Iwo Jima on the ]<ref name= "''Ira Hayes, Pima Marine''"></ref> for Hawaii on March 26 and he continued to train there again with his unit. On April 15, 1945, he boarded a plane to ] with orders to join C Company, 1st Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. Hayes with the two other surviving second flag-raisers of the battle of Iwo Jima, Pfc. Gagnon and PhM2c Bradley, were assigned to making public appearances in connection with selling government ] for the ]. The bond tour began on May 10 in ] after raising the flag from Iwo Jima at the Nation's capital during a ceremony at the capitol's steps |
Hayes and his unit left Iwo Jima on the ]<ref name= "''Ira Hayes, Pima Marine''"></ref> for Hawaii on March 26 and he continued to train there again with his unit. On April 15, 1945, he boarded a plane to ] with orders to join C Company, 1st Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. Hayes with the two other surviving second flag-raisers of the battle of Iwo Jima, Pfc. Gagnon and PhM2c Bradley, were assigned to making public appearances in connection with selling government ] for the ]. The bond tour began on May 10 in ] after raising the flag from Iwo Jima at the Nation's capital during a ceremony at the capitol's steps the day before. The tour ended on July 4th in Washington, D.C. <ref> The Mighty Seventh War Loan: http://www.bucknell.edu/x36352.xml</ref><ref>{{cite video | ||
| | year = May 10, 1945 | | year = May 10, 1945 | ||
| | title = Video: Funeral Pyres of Nazidom, 1945/05/10 (1945) | | title = Video: Funeral Pyres of Nazidom, 1945/05/10 (1945) | ||
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| | publisher = Universal Newsreels | | publisher = Universal Newsreels | ||
| | accessdate = February 20, 2012 | | accessdate = February 20, 2012 | ||
| }}</ref>Hayes, in charge of the flag they had raised on Iwo Jima, participated in and finished the bond tour drive on May 24 in ] and returned to Washington, D.C. with orders to rejoin E Company, 28th Marines at ] in Hawaii.<ref name="''Ira Hayes, Pima Marine''"></ref> He arrived at ] by plane and rejoined E Company on May 29. On June 19, he was promoted to [[Corporal (rank)|corporal. | }}</ref>Hayes, in charge of the flag they had raised on Iwo Jima, participated in and finished the bond tour drive on May 24 in ] and returned to Washington, D.C. with orders to rejoin E Company, 28th Marines at ] in Hawaii.<ref name="''Ira Hayes, Pima Marine''"></ref> He arrived at ] by plane and rejoined E Company on May 29. On June 19, he was promoted to ]. | ||
| ;Occupation duty | ;Occupation duty | ||
Revision as of 17:29, 1 June 2013
| Ira Hamilton Hayes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | Chief Falling Cloud Chief |
| Born | (1923-01-12)January 12, 1923 Sacaton, Arizona |
| Died | January 24, 1955(1955-01-24) (aged 32) Bapchule, Arizona |
| Place of burial | Arlington National Cemetery, Section 34 |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank |  Corporal |
| Unit | 3rd Parachute Battalion 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines 1st Headquarters Battalion, HQMC |
| Battles / wars | World War II
|
Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Pima Native American and a United States Marine who was one of the six servicemen immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Reservation in Sacaton, Arizona. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on August 26, 1942, and after recruit training, volunteered to become a Paramarine. He fought on Bougainville and Iwo Jima in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. On February 23, he helped to raise an American flag and flagstaff over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, an event photographed by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press.
Hayes and the other five flag-raisers became national heroes as a result of Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph. After the war, he was instrumental in confirming the true identity of one of the misidentified and deceased Marines in the photograph, Cpl. Harlon Block. He was never comfortable with his new-found fame, however, and after his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps he descended into alcoholism. He died of exposure to cold and alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking on January 24, 1955. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on February 2, 1955.
He was often commemorated in art and film, both before and after his death. He portrayed himself raising the flag in the motion picture movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, in 1949. A giant Marine figure of him raising the flag on Iwo Jima is included with the other five flag-raisers figures of the 1954 Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. His life story was the subject of the movie, The Outsider, in 1961, which inspired Peter La Farge's song , The Ballad of Ira Hayes, made famous in 1964 when it was sung by Johnny Cash. He was also portrayed by an actor in the World War II movie, Flags of Our Fathers, in 2006.
Early life
Hayes was born in Sacaton, Arizona, a town located in the Gila River Indian Community in Pinal County, the eldest of six children to Nancy Hamilton (1901–1972) and Joseph Hayes (1887–1978). The Hayes children were: Ira (1923–1955), Harold (1924–1925), Arlene (1926–1929), Leonard (1927–1952), Vernon (1929–1958), and Kenneth (born 1931).
Joseph Hayes was a World War I veteran who supported his family by subsistence farming and cotton harvesting. Nancy Hayes was a devout Presbyterian and a Sunday school teacher at the Assemblies of God church in Sacaton.
As a child, Hayes was remembered as being shy and sensitive by his family and friends. Sara Bernal, his first cousin, stated, " was a very quiet man, he would go days without saying anything unless you spoke to him first. The other Hayes children would play and tease me, but not Ira. He was quiet, and somewhat distant. Ira didn't speak unless spoken to. He was just like his father." His boyhood friend Dana Norris stated, "Even though I'm from the same culture, I could never get under his skin. Ira had the characteristic of not wanting to talk. But we Pimas are not prone to tooting our own horns. Ira was a quiet guy, such a quiet guy." Despite this, Hayes was a precocious child who displayed an impressive grasp of the English language, a language that many Pimas did not know how to speak. He was also a voracious reader, learning how to read and write by age four.
In 1932, the family settled in Bapchule, Arizona, located approximately 12 miles northwest of Sacaton. The Hayes children attended grade school in Sacaton and high school at the Phoenix Indian School in Phoenix, Arizona. Esther Monahan, one of his classmates, stated, "Ira wasn't like the other guys. He was shy and never talked to us girls. He was so much more shy than the other Pima boys. The girls would chase him and try to hug him and kiss him, like we did with all the boys. We'd catch the other boys, who enjoyed it. But not Ira. Ira would just run away." After the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Ira confided to his classmate Eleanor Pasquale that he was determined on serving in the United States Marine Corps. Pasquale stated, "Every morning in school, would get a report on World War II. We would sing the anthems of the Army, Marines, and the Navy." In June 1942, Hayes graduated at the Phoenix Indian School and returned to the reservation.
World War II
- U.S. Marine Corps
Hayes enlisted in the Marine Forces Reserve on August 26, 1942. He completed recruit training in Platoon 701 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California and volunteered for Marine paratrooper training at Camp Gillespie located east of San Diego where he received the codename of Chief Falling Cloud. On November 30, he graduated from the parachute training school and received his silver "jump wings". On December 1, he received a promotion to Private First Class.
- Paramarines
On December 2, 1942, he joined Company B, 3rd Parachute Battalion, Divisional Special Troops, 3rd Marine Division, at Camp Elliott, California. On March 14, 1943, Hayes sailed for New Caledonia with the 3rd Parachute Battalion which was assigned to Camp Kiser there on March 25 until September 26; the unit was redesignated in April as Company K, 3rd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment of the I Marine Amphibious Corps. The 3rd battalion was shipped to Guadalcanal and remained there until it was sent to Vella Lavella, arriving there on October 14 for occupational duty. On December 4, he landed with the 3rd battalion on Bougainville and fought against the Japanese as a platoon BAR man with K Company during the Bougainville Campaign. The 3rd Parachute Battalion was shipped back to Guadalcanal and he stayed there until sometime in February when the battalion was sent back to California.
- 5th Marine Division
The 1st Parachute Regiment was officially disbanded at Camp Pendleton, California in February 1944 and Hayes was transferred to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment of the newly activated 5th Marine Division there. Hayes, a member of Second Platoon of E Company, sailed to Hawaii with his unit in September for continued training with the 5th division.
- Battle of Iwo Jima
On February 19, 1945, the 5th Marine Division landed on Iwo Jima. Hayes's rifle company platoon landed off the USS Talledega after being on the USS Missoula. He fought in the battle for the island until March 26th and was among the Marines from 3rd Platoon, E Company that captured and occupied Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945.
The raising of the second American flag on Mount Suribachi by the five Marines, Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, Pfc. Ira Hayes, Pfc. Franklin Sousley, Pfc.Rene Gagnon, and one Navy corpsman, PhM2c John Bradley, was immortalized by Rosenthal and became an icon of the world war. Overnight, Hayes became a living national hero along with the two other survivors in the famous photograph, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley.
- Bond tour
Hayes and his unit left Iwo Jima on the USS Winged Arrow for Hawaii on March 26 and he continued to train there again with his unit. On April 15, 1945, he boarded a plane to Washington, D.C. with orders to join C Company, 1st Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. Hayes with the two other surviving second flag-raisers of the battle of Iwo Jima, Pfc. Gagnon and PhM2c Bradley, were assigned to making public appearances in connection with selling government bonds for the Seventh War Loan Drive. The bond tour began on May 10 in New York City after raising the flag from Iwo Jima at the Nation's capital during a ceremony at the capitol's steps the day before. The tour ended on July 4th in Washington, D.C. Hayes, in charge of the flag they had raised on Iwo Jima, participated in and finished the bond tour drive on May 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana and returned to Washington, D.C. with orders to rejoin E Company, 28th Marines at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii. He arrived at Hilo, Hawaii by plane and rejoined E Company on May 29. On June 19, he was promoted to corporal.
- Occupation duty
Hayes served on occupation duty with E Company, 28th Marines in Japan from September 22 to October 26, 1945.
- Discharge
He completed his service in the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California and was honorably discharged on December 1, 1945.
Military decorations & awards
 Parachutist Badge
|
 Rifle Sharpshooter Badge
|
Post World War II
After the war, Hayes attempted to lead a normal civilian life. "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?'" Although he rarely spoke about the flag raising, he spoke about his service in the Marine Corps with great pride.
After returning home from the war, Hayes remained troubled that one of his friends, Harlon Block, one of the flag raisers who was killed in action days after, was mistaken for another man, Hank Hansen. Hayes later hitchhiked 1,300 miles from the Gila River Indian Community to Edward Frederick Block, Sr.'s farm in Weslaco, Texas in order to reveal the truth to Block's family. He was instrumental in having the controversy resolved, to the delight and gratitude of the Block family.
Ira Hayes appeared in the 1949 John Wayne film, Sands of Iwo Jima, along with fellow flag raisers John Bradley and Rene Gagnon. All three men played themselves in the film. Wayne hands the flag to be raised to the three men. (The actual flag that was raised on Mount Suribachi is used in the film.)
After the war, Hayes was arrested 52 times for public drunkenness. Referring to his alcoholism, he once said: "I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they're not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like me."
In 1954, after a ceremony where he was lauded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a hero, a reporter approached Hayes and asked him, "How do you like the pomp and circumstance?" Hayes hung his head and said, "I don't."
Hayes' disquiet about his unwanted fame and his subsequent post-war problems were first recounted in detail by the author William Bradford Huie in The Outsider, published in 1959 as part of his collection Wolf Whistle and Other Stories. The Outsider was filmed in 1961, directed by World War II veteran turned film director Delbert Mann and starring Tony Curtis.
The 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood, suggests that Hayes suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Death
On the morning of January 24, 1955, Hayes was found dead, lying in his own blood and vomit, near an abandoned adobe hut in Sacaton, Arizona. He had been drinking and playing cards at a bar on the reservation with his friends and brothers Vernon and Kenneth. An altercation ensued between Hayes and a Pima named Henry Setoyant, and all left except Hayes and Setoyant.
The Pinal County coroner concluded that Hayes' death was caused by exposure and alcohol poisoning. However, his brother Kenneth still believes that the death resulted from the altercation with Setoyant. The Gila River Police Department did not conduct an investigation into Hayes' death and Setoyant denied any allegations of fighting with Hayes.
In the 1961 film of his life, (starring Tony Curtis) The Outsider, his death is dramatized for the screen. He is shown freezing to death on an Arizona mountain top, after a night of drinking.
Hayes is buried in Section 34, Grave 479A at Arlington National Cemetery. At the funeral, fellow flag-raiser Rene Gagnon said of him: "Let's say he had a little dream in his heart that someday the Indian would be like the white man — be able to walk all over the United States."
Commemoration
On November 10, 1993, the United States Marine Corps held a ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) commemorating the anniversary of the Corps. Of Ira Hayes, USMC Commandant General Carl Mundy said:
One of the pairs of hands that you see outstretched to raise our national flag on the battle-scarred crest of Mount Suribachi so many years ago, are those of a Native American ... Ira Hayes ... a Marine not of the ethnic majority of our population.
Were Ira Hayes here today ... I would tell him that although my words on another occasion have given the impression that I believe some Marines ... because of their color ... are not as capable as other Marines ... that those were not the thoughts of my mind ... and that they are not the thoughts of my heart.
I would tell Ira Hayes that our Corps is what we are because we are of the people of America ... the people of the broad, strong, ethnic fabric that is our nation. And last, I would tell him that in the future, that fabric will broaden and strengthen in every category to make our Corps even stronger ... even of greater utility to our nation. That's a commitment of this commandant ... And that's a personal commitment of this Marine.
Portrayal in music, film and literature
- Hayes' story was immortalized in a song, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", by Peter LaFarge. Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Smiley Bates, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Kinky Friedman, Tom Russell, Hazel Dickens, Patrick Sky and Townes Van Zandt each covered the song. In 1964, Cash took the song to number 3 on the Billboard country music chart.
- Ira Hayes appeared as himself in the 1949 John Wayne film, Sands of Iwo Jima.
- In the 1960 telefilm The American, he was played by Marine veteran Lee Marvin.
- Tony Curtis played Hayes in the 1961 film The Outsider.
- Hayes was portrayed by Adam Beach in the 2006 movie Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood. The movie was based on the 2000 bestselling book of the same name by James Bradley and Ron Powers.
- The poet Ai dedicates her poem "I Can't Get Started" to Hayes.
- Ira Hayes is mentioned in the poem "Petroglyphs of Serena" by Adrian C. Louis.
- Ira Hayes was also mentioned briefly in the book "Code Talker" by Joseph Bruchac.
- Ira Hayes was also mentioned multiple times in the book "Indian Killer" by Sherman Alexie.
Monuments, memorials, and namings
- Marine Corps War Memorial (rear Marine flag raising figure), Arlington, Virginia.
- Hayes Peak, the northernmost mountain in the Sierra Estrella, Phoenix, Arizona.
- Ira Hayes Park (statue), Sacaton, Arizona.
- Marine Corps League, Ira Hayes Detachment 2, Phoenix, Arizona.
- American Legion, Ira Hayes Post 84, Sacaton, Arizona.
See also
- Native Americans and World War II
- PTSD
- Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
- Shadow of Suribachi: Raising The Flags on Iwo Jima
- Survivor guilt
Bibliography
- Notes
- Chief Falling Cloud
- ^ Ira Hayes, Pima Marine, by Albert Hemingway, 1988, ISBN 10 0819171700.
- Ira Hayes - Find A Grave.
- Ó'Riain, Seán (2006-09-01). "An Irishman's Diary". The Irish Times.
- "Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, USMCR". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
- ^ Bradley & Powers 2006, p. 38
- ^ Bradley & Powers 2006, p. 39
- ^ Bradley & Powers 2006, pp. 39–41
- ^ Bradley & Powers 2006, p. 41
- Bradley & Powers 2006, pp. 41–42
- Bradley & Powers 2006, p. 42
- The U.S. Airbone, Attached Units - The U.S. Airborne during World War II, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment
- The Mighty Seventh War Loan: http://www.bucknell.edu/x36352.xml
- Video: Funeral Pyres of Nazidom, 1945/05/10 (1945). Universal Newsreels. May 10, 1945. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - Combat Action Ribbon (1969) retroactive from December 7, 1941:Public Law 106-65--October 5, 1999, 113 STAT 588, Sec. 564
- ^ Viola, Herman J.; Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (November 18, 2008). "Fighting the Metal Hats: World War II". Warriors in Uniform: The Legacy of American Indian Heroism. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1-4262-0361-9.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - "Then There Were Two". Time. Time (magazine). February 7, 1955.
- Jeffers, Harry Paul (April 1, 2003). "Ira Hayes". The 100 Greatest Heroes. Citadel Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8065-2476-4.
- ^ The Outsider at IMDb
- Bradley & Powers 2006, p. 503
- Chavers, Dean (2007). Modern American Indian Leaders: Their Lives and Their Work. Vol. 1. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7734-5555-9.
- Cash, Johnny (1977). Cash: The Autobiography. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-072753-6. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- References
- Bradley, James; Powers, Ron (2006). Flags of Our Fathers (2006 ed.). Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-58908-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Total pages: 576 - Quiet Hero: The Ira Hayes Story written and illustrated by S. D. Nelson, (Lee & Low Books, 2006) ISBN 978-1-58430-263-6.
- The Outsider and Other Stories, by William Bradford Huie, Panther Books, GB 1961, originally published in the USA 1959, by Signet as Wolf Whistle and Other Stories.
- Hemingway, Albert (1988). Ira Hayes, Pima Marine. University Press of America. ISBN 0819171700.
External links
- Gila River Indian Community official website
- Peter LaFarge Biography
- The Flag Raisers on Iwojima.com
- The Outsider at IMDb
- Flags of Our Fathers - Movie
