[Tupelo]

To me the saddest story of all the sad stories of that sad little island:

“Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He don't live here anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian
Nor the Marine who went war.”

Every time I drive past the Mathew Juan Ira Hayes Memorial Park in Sacaton, I tear up.
Ira Hayes was killed on Iwo Jima even though he died about 10 years later.

[oh8eleven]

Ira Hayes was killed on Iwo Jima even though he died about 10 years later.
Iwo Jima was a factor, but Hayes was killed by his DNA.

[skeeter]

Rene Gagnon’s story was kind of sad as well. The only surviving flag raiser who emerged from the war relatively well adjusted was the corpsman Bradley.