[Vision2020] Ira Hayes' Story: remember all who fought

[Sue Hovey]

Re: [Vision2020] Ira Hayes' Story: remember all who foughtInteresting you should mention Ira Hayes and Audie Murphy.  I had a sociology unit on heroes & leaders in which I had students consider Ira Hayes, Audie Murphy and Sgt. York and their achieved status as heroes.  Students made some interesting comparisons.  

Sue 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mark Solomon 
  To: Tom Hansen ; 'Tim Lohrmann' ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 11:50 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ira Hayes' Story: remember all who fought


  An update on the story in the lyrics: in 1988 the Pima's settled their water rights claim and are now receiving their share of water via the Salt River and Central Arizona Projects.


  Mark


  At 11:26 AM -0700 5/27/07, Tom Hansen wrote:
    Thanks, TL.

    Although Ira Hayes was not afforded the same recognition as Audie Murphy, he is no less a hero.

    "Ballad of Ira Hayes" By Johnny Cash
    http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Ballad_of_Ira_Hayes.mp3

    "Ballad of Ira Hayes"
    written by Peter LaFarge

    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."

    ------------

    Seeya round town, Moscow.

    Tom Hansen
    Moscow, Idaho

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tim Lohrmann
    Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 11:08 AM
    To: vision2020 at moscow.com
    Subject: [Vision2020] Ira Hayes' Story: remember all who fought


    http://thegoldweb.com/voices/irahayes.htm

    The link above does a pretty good job of telling the story of Ira Hayes, one of the marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in one of the most memorable photographs of WWII.

    Although Hayes wasn't actually killed in action, his story seems well worth remembering on Memorial Day.
    His story is just one of thousands of stories of veterans who were praised as heroes, but then forgotten and ignored---with tragic consequences---when the fighting was over.

    We should never forget those who died in combat.

    Neither should we forget those who come home with the scars of war.
    They deserve much better than the neglect Hayes, and millions of others, have received when they returned.

    TL








    "Those 'technicalities' have a name, Bobby. They're called the Bill of Rights.
                                                                         ----Hank Hill


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