Week 37: Ira Hayes
Last Monday marked the 70th anniversary of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. The event was captured in Joe Rosenthal’s iconic photograph, showing six men raising the flag. The photo won a Pulitzer Prize and served as the inspiration for the Marine Corps Memorial in Washington, D.C. One of these six men was a local Pima Indian by the name of Ira Hayes.
Hayes was born on January 12, 1923, in Sacaton, just a few miles south of Chandler on the Gila River Indian Community. He was the eldest of six children. His father, Joseph, was a subsistence farmer and his mother, Nancy, taught Sunday school in the local Presbyterian church. When Ira was nine, the family moved to Bapchule.
Ira enlisted in the Marine Corps in August of 1942. He completed basic and parachute training near San Diego before being shipped out to the Pacific Theater, eventually training for the invasion of Iwo Jima.
Ira’s platoon landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, during the initial phase of the invasion. After four days of fighting, the American forces captured Mount Suribachi, the defining geographical landmark on the island. A flag was placed on the summit, but command determined a larger one was needed.
Meanwhile, Hayes, Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, and Pfc Franklin Sousley were heading to the summit laying telephone wire for communications. Pfc Rene Gagnon arrived at the summit with the larger flag. With the help of Navy corpsman John Bradley, they attached the flag to a pipe and raised it. The iconic moment was captured by Rosenthal. The photograph became an immediate sensation in the States, and turned all six men into celebrities overnight. Unfortunately, Strank, Block, and Sousley were killed in action on Iwo Jima. Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley returned to the States as war heroes and were put on tour to promote the sale of war bonds.
After the war, Ira returned to Sacaton in an attempt to lead a normal life. But his fame wouldn’t allow for that. Upon his return, the entire Pima community turned out for a barbecue to celebrate. Everywhere he went he was lauded as a hero. In 1949, he appeared as himself in the John Wayne film Sands of Iwo Jima. He attended the dedication of the Marine Corps Memorial in 1954, visiting the White House and getting photographed with President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon.
The weight of fame never sat well with Ira, and led him to 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.”
On January 23, 1955, Ira joined his brothers, Vernon and Kenneth, and some friends in drinking and playing poker in an abandoned house not far from where he lived. Though the details of the evening remain somewhat unclear, what is known for sure is that after a time Vernon and Kenneth left Ira alone in the abandoned house. The next morning he was found dead not far from the building. The cause of death was listed as alcohol poisoning and exposure.
Ira’s funeral arrangements were handled by Bueler Mortuary in Chandler. The funeral was held in the Presbyterian church in Sacaton. Thousands of people, including many Chandler residents, turned out to mourn him. After the service his body was laid in state in the State Capitol in Phoenix, where many more Arizonans paid their respects. From there, his parents accompanied his body to Washington, D.C., where he was laid to rest as a hero in Arlington National Cemetery.