Great Music Monday - Ballad of Ira Hayes

Yesterday was Flag Day. A day to honor the adoption of Old Glory.

Last year, I posted one of the greatest songs about the flag ever, and this year, we will focus on one of the men who was a part of one of the most famous flag raisings ever in American History, the raising on the top of Mt. Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.

This one photo, of the second flag raised on top of Suribachi (see Flags of our Fathers).

This same image is immortalized as the United States Marine Corps War Memorial, located near Arlington National Cemetery.

The person on the far left in the picture, is PFC Ira Hayes, USMC. Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian from Arizona.

Following the War, Hayes came home to much unwanted attention. He would be arrested more than 50 times for drunkenness. In 1949, Hayes, along with the other two men who raised the flag in the picture who survived the war, joined John Wayne on the silver screen for the classic "Sands of Iwo Jima." In the film, Hayes, along with John Bradley and Rene Gagnon, played themselves and were handed the same flag raised in 1945, from John Wayne, to raise it again.

But Hayes was never able to regain normalcy in his life. In January 1955, following a card game Ira Hayes was found dead, laying face down in his own vomit and blood. Official cause of death was exposure and alcohol , but his brother believes an argument following the card game was a factor.

Ira Hayes is an American Tragedy. An American Hero who was never able to resume a normal life, and died far too young, at age 32.

Folk Singer/Songwriter Peter La Farge wrote a ballad about the life and tragic end of Ira Hayes. By far, the most popular recording ever was by Johnny Cash.