Ira Hayes Research Paper

People who serve in the military are looked up to and are seen as heroes through society’s perspective. However people like Ira Hayes did not see themselves as heroes. They saw it as a job that had to be done to protect the one’s he loved. What people don’t know is the duty these heroes have to perform. In war you are trained to be able to physically hurt or kill someone. That is why Ira Hayes could not see himself as a hero and became a rebel to what society believed.
Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He served as a parachutist for over 11 months overseas and 2 campaigns. He became popular in society because he, along with five others raised a flag over Iwo Jima while the battle was still happening on the Island. He was …show more content…
Ira went back to the reservation attempting to lead an anonymous life, but it didn’t turn out that way. Day after day People would drive through the reservation and ask Ira “Are you the Indian who raised the flag on Iwo Jima". He received hundreds of letters asking to tell his story of what happened on Iwo Jima. Ira tried to drown his "Conflict of Honor" with alcohol and was arrested as drunk and disorderly. He stated that he would think about his good buddies and how they were better men then him, but they were never coming back. Ira became famous for his drinking problems and being arrested multiple times. A song written by Peter Lafarge called the Ballad of Ira Hayes that explained his life after the war. Society responded to his problems by nicknaming him “drunken Ira Hayes”, no one remembered him for the marine who went to war for them. He was never able to get his life back in balance. Ira Hayes died of exposure at the age of thirty-three on Jan, 24th 1955. He was memorialized by the Pima people and characterized as "a hero to everyone but himself". He is buried in Arlington

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