Celebration
of
an American
Hero
Being a retired 28-year veteran, I like
to research U. S. Military history. This particular article caught my
attention and being that 4th of July is just around the corner and the
cover story is about a good friend of mine, fellow veteran, motorcyclist
and Native American, I thought I would share it with you. It’s been
63 years since Marines from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Division stormed
the beach of Iwo Jima, but their memory is far from forgotten.
The invasion of Iwo by Marines began February 19, 1945.
The brutal 36-day battle saw 25,851 U.S. injuries with 6,825 Americans
killed. The 22,000 Japanese defenders had vowed to fight to the death,
and most of them succeeded in their vow.
One of these Marine who became an American hero that day
was Ira Hamilton Hayes, an Akima O’odham, or Pima Indian, and became
one of the five Marines, along with a Navy corpsman, immortalized in the
iconic photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima.
There is probably not a more tragic story than that of
Ira Hayes. Ira was the son of a farming family that had struggled for
years to make a living on the reservation but had very little success
beyond survival. The Pima’s at one time were successful as farmers.
That, however, was before the U.S. government cut their water supply and
essentially created a situation where they could no longer grow enough
crops to eat.
Yet when America called its men to arms, Ira answered this
call and joined the U.S. Marines Corps. Ira joined for a variety reasons:
he would be able to leave the reservation, eat regularly and send money
home to his family to help them have a better life. Upon Ira’s departure
the Tribal Chief told him to be an Honorable Warrior and to bring honor
upon his people. Ira, it’s said, never failed to do this. He was
a dedicated Marine, admired by his peers who fought alongside him in three
major battles in the Pacific.
On February 23, 1945, at age 23, Ira Hayes committed an
act that would place him in this nation’s history books and irrevocably
change his life forever. Atop Mount Suribachi on the Pacific islands of
Iwo Jima, a small group of Marines struggled to raise the American flag
to claim victory over the Japanese occupancy.
As the flag was being raised, Ira rushed to help his comrades
just as photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped what was to become one of the
most famous pictures in history. Of the six men depicted in the picture,
three (Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank) did not survive
the battle; the three survivors (John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes)
became instant celebrities upon the publication of the photo.
Ira’s platoon paid a big price in the battle. Only
five of the 45 survived and of his company of 250, only 27 escaped death
or injury.
Ira was stunned when he was told that President Truman
wanted him and the other survivors to return to the United States to join
the 7th Bond Tour, to help raise money for the war efforts. Ira never
considered himself a hero. He always felt the real heroes where his buddies
who died during the battles.
What was supposed to be an easy tour of duty (the 7th Bond
Tour) turned into the worst ordeal of Ira’s military life. He never
understood why he was called an American hero, and he struggled with the
adulation that was heaped on him everywhere he went. Over and over he
made statements that he was not a hero and reminded everyone of the brave
men who had died and deserved the honor.
This honor weighed heavily on Ira and by the time he was
released from duty he was hopelessly addicted to alcohol. The Bond Tour
had been a battle that had taken more of a toll on him than any he fought
in the Pacific. It seemed that this nation found only one-way to honor
its heroes: Buy them a drink!
After the Bond Tour, Ira went back to the reservation to
escape the unwanted attention he’d been forced to bare. But people
did not stop writing or coming to see “the Indian who raised the
flag.” Ira’s only escape from the conflict he felt over being
viewed as a hero was the bottle. Over and over he made statements like
“I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about my good
buddies. They were better men than me and they’re not coming back,
much less back to the White House, like me.” After a ceremony where
he was praised by President Eisenhower, once again for being a hero, a
reporter asked Ira, “How do you like the pomp and circumstances?”
Ira just hung his head and said, “I don’t.”
Sadly, for years after Ira’s release from the military
service with no one to help him. (in those days you did not seek psychological
services) Ira struggled with his inability to reconcile himself as being
worthy of the fame he’d received. Ira never saw his military service
as any more than just being a warrior.
On January 24, 1955 in Sacaton, Arizona, after a night
of drinking, Ira Hamilton Hayes fell in a irrigation ditch and froze to
death at the age of 32. The ditch where he died was the single source
of water provided for his people by the same government he’d proudly
served.
Hayes is buried in section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery.
“He was a true American Hero – Native
American Hero.”
I would like to thank all our Veterans who have served
past and present. My thoughts and prayers go out to our troops serving
in the Middle East. |