Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes - MCRD - San Diego, CA
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 32° 44.564 W 117° 11.679
11S E 481764 N 3622783
At the MCRD Museum, access open to the public every day.
Waymark Code: WMZY5N
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/22/2019
Views: 0
County of painting: San Diego County
Location of memorial: Hochmuth Ave, James L. Day Hall Museum, MCRD
MCRD: Marine Corps Recruit Depot
Artist: Alvin B. Grant
Plaque Text:
Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes
Iraq Hayes was a Pima Indian who enlisted in the Marine Corps early in World War II. During the fighting for the island of Iwo Jima, on Mt. Surabachi, a small group of Marines struggled to raise the second flag that would symbolize American victor of over the Japanese. As Corporal Hayes rushed in to help his comrades, photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped what was to become one of the most famous pictures in history.
Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Pima Native American and a United States Marine who was one of the six flag raisers immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II.[5][6] Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Pima Indian Reservation located in the Pinal and Maricopa counties in Arizona. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on August 26, 1942 and, after recruit training, volunteered to become a Paramarine. He fought in the Bougainville and Iwo Jima campaigns in the Pacific Theatre of Operations.
"He was the subject of an article by journalist William Bradford Huie, which was adapted for the feature film The Outsider (1961), starring Tony Curtis as Hayes. The movie inspired songwriter Peter La Farge to write "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," which became popular nationwide in 1964 after being recorded by Johnny Cash. In 2006, Hayes was portrayed by Adam Beach in the World War II movie Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood.
"On the morning of January 24, 1955, Hayes was found dead lying near an abandoned adobe hut near where he lived in Sacaton, Arizona. He had been drinking and playing cards on the reservation with his friends and brothers Vernon and Kenneth. An altercation ensued between Hayes and a Pima Indian named Henry Setoyant, and all left except Hayes and Setoyant. The Pinal County coroner concluded that Hayes's death was caused by exposure and alcohol poisoning. However, his brother Kenneth, a Korean War veteran, believes that the death resulted from the altercation with Setoyant. The reservation police did not conduct an investigation into Hayes's death, and Setoyant denied any allegations of fighting with Hayes. There was no autopsy.
"On February 2, 1955, Hayes was buried in Section 34, Grave 479A at Arlington National Cemetery. At the funeral, fellow flag-raiser Rene Gagnon said of him: "Let's say he had a little dream in his heart that someday the Indian would be like the white man — be able to walk all over the United States."' ~ Wikipedia