Read this book...not as good as Bradley's other book, "Flyboys" but very informative.
Posted on 07/04/2006 11:39:12 AM PDT by tenn2005
"You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalmorality.com ...
Ballad of Ira Hayes Lyrics
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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
Long-time-no-see ping.
A very succinct story. The man who told the story may have earned the right to call these heroes boys, he was there with them. I call them men. Men in every way who fought for each other, as all good soldiers fight for each other.
War is no fun but neither is thinking about the family you left at home suffering under the foot of those you are fighting to defeat. We had to fight Ww2 to beat the Germans and the Japanese , We all know enough stories of what happened when either conquered a country.
IMO, sadly and tragically for our nation, today's Liberals, ACLU, and the MSM, would charge the heroes of Iwo Jima with committing atrocities as evidenced by the spineless attacks on today's soldiers. Liberals would cry and whine that our soldiers in WWII used flame throwers and whatever else they had to flush the enemy out of the caves on Iwo Jima. That's how sick and perverted our current day political enemies have become. IMO, unless the American people wake up, our enemies will be knocking at our door.
Well the NY Slimes gave it a good review... it must be good. =)
My opinion is the same as yours.
Read it. If it doesn't make you cry something wrong with you.
I read the book. It's a must read for anyone interested in military history of WWII.
I concur.
From www.peterlafarge.com: Academy Award winning director Clint Eastwood is directing a film produced by Steven Speilberg called Flags of Our Fathers for Fall 2006 release. This movie will follow the story of Ira Hayes and the other 2 soldiers who raised the flag at Iwo Jima and survived the war, only to find themselves being used as pawns by the American government to sell war bonds. Hayes died at age 32 on his poverty-stricken reservation a mere 10 weeks after a monument was erected, as Peter sang "two inches of water in a lonely ditch was a grave for Ira Hayes." Top Native American actor Adam Beach (Smoke Signals, Windtalkers) will play Ira.
ping
aw jeez... they're even going to screw up Iwo Jima.... maybe it'll be a classic like "Jarhead", "Pearl Harbor" or "windtalkers" or whatever that was....f'ing joke. I'm waiting for the first jihadist to frag out Hollywood or Santa Monica...
I'm sure they'll find out that #1 it's Bush's fault
#2 Women and Minorities affected the most
#3 America was really the bad guy to use these vets to sell war bonds... when the money should have gone to substance abuse programs and reparations....
why even bother..just avoid the movie...
God,
Thanks for giving us men like these who willing fight and die so that we can enjoy this land that you have given us in freedom.
Let us always remember their sacrifice. Let us not shrink from beating back the enemies of freedom whether they be foreign or domestic.
Let us always remember that if we do not continue to fight for the freedoms we hold dear against those forces who would take that freedom from us, we will be guilty of failing to honor the sacrifice of men like these.
The elections, the control of the courts, the return of our country to its founding principles is not just a good idea, its what we must do to honor these brave men.
Amen.
In all seriousness, the day after the flag-raising, the NYT would run an editorial saying this was un-American behavior to "rub it in the enemies' faces" and was "akin to President Bush's ill-advised 'Bring it on' comment" and the flag over the Saddam statue's face.
I just received this story via email and came to FR to see if it had been posted.
BUMP
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