Written by Peter Lafarge, and recorded by Johnny Cash on 3/5/64, "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" reached #3 on the country charts.
Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian, who joined the U.S.Marines, for two reasons. One, to be able to send money home to provide for his family, and two, to get off the Pima Indian Reservation in Sacator, Arizona.
While serving in the Marines, Ira was in the South Pacific. On February 23, 1945, Ira jumped in to help out 5 other Marines in the task they were performing, and ended up becoming part of one of the most famous photographs in American history, taken by Joe Rosenthal:
Ira is the one all the way in the back. His hands aren't touching the flagpole.
Well, of the six men who raised the flag, three never left Iwo Jima.
Franklin Sousley was killed March 21, 1945, by a Japanese sniper. He was 19 years old.
Harlon Blockwas killed in combat on March 1, 1945. He was 20 years old.
Michael Strankwas also killed in combat on March 1, 1945. He was 25 years old.
Of the three who made it off Iwo Jima alive:
All three were part of Bond Drive 7, (I think that's what it was called), and toured the U.S. , making apprearances.
Rene Gagnon died 21 years later, at the age of 53, bitter about his lack of fame. He was the only one of the six men to actually trya nd cash in on his accidental fame, having parts in two war movies after WWII had ended.
John Bradley, who's son wrote "Flags of our Fathers" (which I have read), was the only one of the remaining three, to live well into old age, passing away on January 11, 1994, of a stroke.
Ira Hayes battled alcoholism, and struggled with the attention he recieved. died on January 24, 1955. He was found in a ditch, not far from an abandoned hut, where he reportedly played cards and drank the night before. The coroner's report concluded he died from exposure and too much alcohol.
Ira Hayes' Life
*on a side note, it's pretty tough to see all six men, sohere is a colorized photo, with each person's name assigned a different color.
The Ballad of Ira Hayes
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