"Ira Hayes' Grave, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks
All images on this website can be printed by me on my archival printer, using archival paper, then signed, boarded, glassine-bagged, then mailed to you
8 1/2 by 11s are $45, plus S & H. 13 x 19s are $95, plus S & H. (Image rights are also for sale. Cost of those are specific to the client and the job.) Shipping runs between $10 and $20.
Contact me via email at [email protected], or through Facebook Messenger, if you want to buy something. Stay safe. Love y’all.
Ira Hayes was a Pima Native American man. He was one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima. He died young at age 32. They say he died drunk from exposure in a ditch near his reservation in Arizona, but now there are some doubts about that. He probably died in a bar fight and his body was then dumped in that ditch. No autopsy was ever done.
I'm very moved by Ira's story. I'm also from Arizona and I am also an alcoholic, but I had the luck and good grace to get sober in 1985. From what we know, Ira had terrible PTSD after World War II and drank to deal with his pain. And back in the day, I could have easily died in a bar fight, in a traffic accident, or from my own hand. I never fought in a war, except for the war inside my own head, most everyday prior to 1985, and a few days since.
Rest in peace Ira. Love you, brother. By the way, Johnny Cash wrote a song about you. I think you would have liked it.
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