Ira Hayes

Ira Hayes (January 12, 1923 ? January 24, 1955) was a Native American hero of World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima.

Commemoration

The tragic story of his life was immortalized in a song, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," by Peter LaFarge and performed by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

Related Topics:
Peter LaFarge - Johnny Cash - Bob Dylan

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:Chorus:

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:Call him drunken Ira Hayes

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:He won't answer anymore

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:Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian

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:Nor the Marine that went to war

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:Gather round me people there's a story I would tell

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:About a brave young Indian you should remember well

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:From the land of the Pima Indian

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:A proud and noble band

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:Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

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:Down the ditches for a thousand years

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:The water grew Ira's peoples' crops

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:'Till the white man stole the water rights

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:And the sparklin' water stopped

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:Now Ira's folks were hungry

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:And their land grew crops of weeds

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:When war came, Ira volunteered

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:And forgot the white man's greed

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:Chorus

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:There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,

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:Two hundred and fifty men

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:But only twenty-seven lived

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:To walk back down again

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:And when the fight was over

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:And when Old Glory raised

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:Among the men who held it high

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:Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

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:Chorus

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:Ira returned a hero

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:Celebrated through the land

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:He was wined and speeched and honored;

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:Everybody shook his hand

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:But he was just a Pima Indian

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:No water, no crops, no chance

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:At home nobody cared what Ira'd done

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:And when did the Indians dance

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:Chorus

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:Then Ira started drinkin' hard;

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:Jail was often his home

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:They'd let him raise the flag and lower it

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:like you'd throw a dog a bone!

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:He died drunk one mornin'

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:Alone in the land he fought to save

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:Two inches of water in a lonely ditch

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:Was a grave for Ira Hayes

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:Chorus

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:Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes

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:But his land is just as dry

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:And his ghost is lyin' thirsty

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:In the ditch where Ira died

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On November 10, 1993, the U.S. Marine Corps held a ceremony at the Iwo Jima Memorial commemorating the 218th anniversary of the Corps.

Related Topics:
November 10 - 1993 - U.S. Marine Corps

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Of Ira Hayes, USMC Commandant General Carl Mundy said:

Related Topics:
Commandant - Carl Mundy

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"One of the pairs of hands that you see outstretched to raise

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our national flag on the battle-scarred crest of Mount Suribachi so

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many years ago, are those of a native American ... Ira Hayes ... a

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Marine not of the ethnic majority of our population.

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Were Ira Hayes here today ... I would tell him that although

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my words on another occasion have given the impression that I

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believe some Marines ... because of their color ... are not as

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capable as other Marines ... that those were not the thoughts of my

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mind ... and that they are not the thoughts of my heart.

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I would tell Ira Hayes that our Corps is what we are because

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we are of the people of America ... the people of the broad,

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strong, ethnic fabric that is our nation. And last, I would tell

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him that in the future, that fabric will broaden and strengthen in

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every category to make our Corps even stronger ... even of greater

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utility to our nation. That's a commitment of this commandant ...

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And that's a personal commitment of this Marine."

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