A Pima US Marine from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona (1923 to 1955) who was one of the six men in Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the second flag raising on Iwo Jima.

When was the flag raised on Iwo Jima?

On 23 February 1945. A small flag went up on the summit of Mount Suribachi first, and later that day it was replaced by the larger flag shown in the famous photograph.

Was Ira Hayes a paratrooper?

Yes. He volunteered for the Marine parachute units and was the first Pima to earn Marine paratrooper wings. The parachutists never jumped into combat; when they were disbanded in 1944, their veterans formed the core of the new 5th Marine Division.

Was Ira Hayes's place in the photograph ever disputed?

No. Some of the other men were misidentified at first and the Marine Corps later corrected the names, but Hayes's identity has never been in doubt.

What was the bond tour?

After the photograph made the flag raisers famous, Hayes and the two other men then believed to be the surviving flag raisers were pulled out of the battle and sent home to sell war bonds. Hayes hated being called a hero while his comrades were dying.

What happened to Ira Hayes after the war?

He went home to Arizona, struggled with what would now be recognized as post-traumatic stress and with alcoholism, and worked at low-paid jobs. He died of exposure and alcohol poisoning in January 1955 at the age of 32.

Where is Ira Hayes buried?

At Arlington National Cemetery, where he was buried with full military honors.

Ira Hayes: The Pima Marine in the Iwo Jima Flag Photo

US Marine Corps photograph, National Archives, 1943, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (US government work).

Quick answer

Who was Ira Hayes?

Ira Hayes was a Pima US Marine from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona and one of the six men in Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on 23 February 1945. A former paratrooper, he was pulled out of the battle to sell war bonds, a role he hated. After the war he struggled with post-traumatic stress and alcoholism, and he died in 1955 at the age of 32.¹

On 23 February 1945 six Marines raised a large American flag on Mount Suribachi, and Joe Rosenthal's photograph of them became the most famous image of the Pacific war and won a Pulitzer Prize. One of the six was Ira Hayes, a quiet young Pima from Arizona. The picture made him a national hero overnight. He never believed he deserved it, and the fame it brought him followed him for the rest of his short life.²

From Gila River

Ira Hamilton Hayes was born on 12 January 1923 on the Gila River Indian Reservation south of Phoenix, Arizona. Sources disagree on the exact village, Sacaton or nearby Bapchule. He was a Pima, or Akimel O'odham, a member of the Gila River Indian Community.³

In 1942, not yet twenty, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.⁴

The first Pima paratrooper

After boot camp Hayes volunteered for parachute training, and he became the first Pima to wear Marine paratrooper wings.⁵

Ira Hayes, a young Marine in a garrison cap, standing in the doorway of an aircraft clutching a reserve parachute to his chest at the Marine Corps parachute school, 1943 — Private First Class Ira H. Hayes, aged 19, ready to jump at the Marine Corps parachute school, 1943. Photographer unknown, US Marine Corps, 1943. National Archives (NAID 519164), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (US government work).

The parachutists were elite volunteers, but in the Pacific they never jumped into battle. They fought as light infantry, landing from the sea like any other Marines.⁶

Bougainville

Hayes's first combat was on Bougainville in the northern Solomon Islands, where the Marine parachutists fought in the jungle behind the beachhead in late 1943.⁷

The parachute units did not survive the campaign. Early in 1944 the Marine Corps disbanded them, and their veterans became the core of the new 5th Marine Division.⁸

Easy Company

Hayes was assigned to Company E, "Easy Company," of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division. In early 1945 the division put to sea for Iwo Jima.⁹

Dark locator map with a gold star in a glowing circle marking the approximate center of the fighting of Battle of Iwo Jima, the coasts, rivers and lakes of the region, and a small world map inset with the area boxed — Iwo Jima, some 650 to 660 miles south of Tokyo: the star marks the approximate center of the fighting, and the inset shows the area on a world map. Drawn from Natural Earth data, with no modern borders. Location map: © Echoes of Battle (data: Natural Earth, public domain)

The flag on Suribachi

Iwo Jima lies some 650 to 660 miles south of Tokyo, a small volcanic island that had become a key objective of the American advance on Japan. At its southern tip rises Mount Suribachi. On 19 February 1945 the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions landed, and Hayes's regiment fought its way to the mountain.¹⁰

Marines dug into volcanic sand below the bulk of Mount Suribachi — US Marines in forward positions facing Mount Suribachi on 22 February 1945, the day before the flag raisings. Public domain

On 23 February, the fourth day of the battle, Marines reached the summit and raised a small American flag. Later that day a second, larger flag was raised in the same place, and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal caught that second raising. Hayes was one of the six men raising it.¹¹

Marines on a rocky summit holding up a small American flag on a pole while one keeps watch with a carbine — The first American flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi, 23 February 1945, photographed by Marine Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery shortly before the famous second flag raising. Public domain

Three of the six were killed in the fighting that followed. Some of the names were confused at first and the Marine Corps later corrected them, but Hayes's own place in the photograph has never been in dispute.¹²

The fight for Iwo Jima went on for weeks. Accounts of Easy Company's losses differ, but by any count only a small part of its men came through unhurt.¹³ › Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945

The bond tour

Rosenthal's picture made the flag raisers famous, and the surviving men were ordered home to help sell war bonds. Hayes and the two other men then believed to be survivors, John Bradley and Rene Gagnon, were pulled out of the battle and sent back to the United States.¹⁴

Poster of Marines raising the flag with the words Now All Together — The Seventh War Loan poster by C. C. Beall, 1945, a painted version of Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph used to sell war bonds while the Pacific war was still being fought. Public domain

President Harry Truman received them as heroes, and a tour of receptions and dinners began. Being called a hero while so many of his friends lay dead on Iwo Jima tormented Hayes, and he found the whole experience deeply uncomfortable.¹⁵

The Marine in the ranks

Hayes never commanded anyone; he was a rifleman whose war was the next ridge and the men beside him. He considered the men who had died on the island the true heroes, and he disliked being called the "Iwo Jima hero" for the rest of his life.¹⁶

A haunted life

Back on the reservation, Hayes was in demand at patriotic events, but he found only day labor and low-paid work, and his drinking worsened. Today his symptoms would be recognized as post-traumatic stress, a condition little understood in the 1940s.¹⁷

A giant bronze modeled on Rosenthal's photograph, the Marine Corps War Memorial, was raised in Arlington, Virginia, after the war; its figures preserve the likenesses of the flag raisers.¹⁸

Silhouette of the bronze flag raisers of the Marine Corps War Memorial against a violet dusk sky, with the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument lit in the distance — The Marine Corps War Memorial at dusk, with the Capitol and the Washington Monument beyond. Carol M. Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006, Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

On 24 January 1955 Hayes was found dead not far from his home on the reservation. He had died of exposure and alcohol poisoning. He was 32.¹⁹

Legacy and memory

Hayes was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, where other flag raisers also lie.²⁰

White headstone of Ira Hamilton Hayes with small stones placed on top — Ira Hayes' headstone in Section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery, photographed by Elizabeth Fraser for the US Army in 2020. Public domain

His story has been retold ever since: in Johnny Cash's song "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," in books, and in films.²¹

He thought the men who died on Iwo Jima were the heroes. He could not escape being called one himself.

Read the full story of the Battle of Iwo Jima, meet a fellow Marine who fell there, John Basilone, explore World War II, or see what else happened on 23 February.