[PDF] THE INDIAN WHO RAISED THE FLAG: AN EXAMINATION OF THE

View - Download THE INDIAN WHO RAISED THE FLAG: AN EXAMINATION OF THE

Previous PDF

Next PDF

THE INDIAN WHO RAISED THE FLAG:

AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEGACY OF IRA

HAYES, 1945-PRESENT

by

Keith Cook

____________________________

Copyright © Keith Cook 2020

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF

HISTORY

In Partial Fulfi

llment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

MASTER OF

ARTS

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

20 20

ZHFHUWLI\WKDWZHKDYHUHDGWKHWKHVLV

SUHSDUHGE\

WLWOHG

DFFHSWHGDVIXOILOOLQJWKH

UHTXLUHPHQW

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On many occasions while I have been writing this thesis, I have found myself wondering whether or not it is appropriate for someone like me to be studying this topic at all, or if I could conduct it properly. I am neither a citizen of the Akimel O'odham nation, nor am I a citizen of any Indigenous nation. Furthermore, whether or not I choose to admit it, I have indirectly benefited from numerous social and geographical privileges that have advantaged

White people

over Indigenous Peoples. In addition, as a white male scholar, I have inherited a legacy of appropriation and discrimination conducted by the academic community against Indigenous Peoples. It is only thanks to the support and encouragement of many people, who insisted on the im portance of telling this story, that I could continue this research, and it is my dearest hope that I have been able to do so with the courtesy and respect that it rightfully deserves.

This paper would never have been possible without

the support of the many people that I have had the privilege to meet over the years, and have b een willing to put up with my g eneral lack of social skills. Special thanks should be given to the members of my thesis committee, Dr. Katherine Morrissey, Dr. Tyina Steptoe, and Dr. Erika Perez, for being willing to offer me their time and counsel. Dr. Morrissey was an exceptionally influential figure in this process by encouraging me to look further, think bigger, and dig deeper when engaging with the sources. I would also like to thank Dr. Franci Washburn from the American Indian Studies program at the University of Arizona for her guidance and her willingness to hear me complain about the political climate. 4 Special thanks should also be given to Dr. Ophelia Zepeda, who was willing to put up with my clumsiness during our meeting, and whose suggestion to look at the wider O'odham experience during World War II helped light the initial spark that started me on the road to writing this paper. I also wish to thank the following members of my graduate cohort: Mariel Watt, Robert McMicken, Andrew Wickersham, Dean Messinger, Myrsini Manney, Nicole Crisp, Annie Beguhl, Patrick Anguilo, and Julien Love. Without each and every one of them, I have no doubt that my time in graduate school would have been far less bearable than it has been , and that I would not be where I am now. Lastly, I wish to thank my parents (my mother, my father, and my stepfather) as well as my sister for all the love and support they have given me over these past few years. For when all is said and done, there is nothing better than having a welcoming home to return to at the end of the day. 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 6

Introduction

7 1.

The Indian Who Raised the Flag 24

2. The

Tragedy of Ira Hayes 51

3. The

Hayes that History Forgot 97

4. The

Contemporary Ira Hayes 127

Conclusion

170

Bibliography

177
6

ABSTRACT

This thesis

examine s the ways in which socio-cultural depictions of Akimel O'odham veteran Ira Hayes have changed over the course of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Captured in Joe Rosenthal's iconic 1945 photograph as one of the six Marines who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima during World War II, Hayes was transformed into a mythological being that became a source of contention between White Americans and

Indigenous

Peoples. Through popular media, White Americans sought to reconcile Hayes's active participation in the flag-raising with their own socio-cultural understandings of where Indigenous Peoples fit within the American nation.

Indigenous Peoples, meanwhile, saw Hayes

as an example of the sacrifices they had made for the United States, and demanded the right to tell his story on their own terms.

By analyzing

various forms of popular media, including newspapers, magazine articles, songs, and films, this work frames popular imaginings of Ira Hayes within the context of the greater White-Indigenous relationship in the late twentieth century, and explores how these depictions of one man became part of a wider, ongoing socio- cultural conflict over race and citizenship in the United States. 7

INTRODUCTION

On February 23, 1945, a photographer from the Associated Press named Joe Rosenthal snapped a photo of six Marines hoisting the Stars and Stripes abo ve Mount Suribachi on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. While this photograph was not the only one taken of the flag- raising, it quickly became a sensation back in the United States, with the scene being reprinted in newspapers and replayed on movie theater screens across the country. Among the six Marines depicted in the photo was a young man from Arizona named Ira Hayes. When the names of the six men became public knowledge, the soldiers and sailors became famous across the nation. In the eyes of the American people, these six men were nation al heroes. However, while Hayes may have become a celebrated figure, his place among the six was dampened by the simple fact that he was not like the other five men. Hayes was an Indigenous man a member of the Akimel

O'odham nation of central Arizo

na. Because of his heritage, Hayes's status among the flag- raisers became one laden with controversy and unclear meaning, with both

White Americans and

Indigenous Peoples struggling to come to terms with what his presence meant in the grand scheme of American race relations. Media and cultural representations of Ira Hayes, both during and through the late twentieth century, have played significant roles in th is process. The numerous retellings of Ira Hayes's life over the years in newspapers, songs, movies, and o ther forms of artistic expression by bo th White Americans and Indigenous Peoples demonstrate an ongoing struggle between these groups over how to situate Hayes within American society. Exploring how these imaginings of Hayes have shifted, or remained stable, over the years, illuminates the changes that transpired within the ideological relationship between White people 8 and Indigenous Peoples, and how they have influenced the contemporary understanding of where Indigenous Peoples exist within the framework of the American Nation.

Who Was Ira Hayes?

Hayes was born in Sacaton, Arizona, on January 12, 1923 to Nancy and Joseph Hayes. 1 His father was a World War I veteran and subsistence farmer who harvested cotton, and his mother was a devout Presbyterian and an active member of the religious community. 2

Hayes was

the eldest of the couple's six children. Of these six, only Hayes's younger brother Kenneth lived past his thirties. 3 Much like his father, Hayes was commonly described by his friends and relatives as a quiet individual who typically only spoke when spoken to, a trait which was encouraged among the Akimel O'odham. When he did speak, however, Hayes demonstrated a keen intellect and a firm grasp of the English language. 4

His sharp wit can very likely be

attributed to his mother, who worked hard to ensure that all her children received a good education, and had them all sent to the Phoenix Indian School when they were ready for high school. 5 After completing two years of study, Hayes quit school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, serving in the organization from May to June of 1942 before finding work as a carpenter. 6 1

Brad Melton and Dean Smith, Arizona Goes to War: The Home Front and the Front Lines during World War II

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2003), 154. 2 James Bradley and Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers (New York: Bantam Books, 2001), 59. 3

Melton, 154.

4

Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers, 58-59; There is no indication in the sources that Hayes spoke O'odham, and

considering that he attended the Phoenix Indian

School, it is quite likel

y that his instructors did everything in their

power to keep him from speaking it. To learn more about Indian Schools, and their policy of curbing open displays

of "Indianness," read Ward Churchill, Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian

Residential Schools

(San Francisco: City Lights, 2004). 5

Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers, 59.

6

Mark Nothaft, "Arizona's connection to iconic flag-raising at Iwo Jima during world War II," AZ Central, October

5, 2017

raising-iwo-jima-during-world-war-ii/737002001/; Ruth Kendall, "For Ira Hayes, Iwo Jima heroism led to an early

grave," Chickasaw Journal, July 3, 2019; "Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, USMCR (Deceased)," Marine Corps

University

https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine

History/Gagnon

-Ingram/Corporal-Ira-Hamilton-Hayes/ (accessed July 15, 2020). 9 On August 26, 1942, Hayes enlisted in the Marine Corps. 7

After completing basic

training, he volunteered for paratrooper training, and was transferred to the Parachute Training

School at Camp Gillespie in San

Diego.

8

Following

his graduation a month later, Hayes was assigned to Company B, 3 rd

Parachute

Battalion, 3

rd

Marine Division (his company would later

be redesignated as Company K, 3 rd

Parachute

Battalion, 1

st

Marine Pa

rachute

Regiment).

9 During his time as a so-called "Paramarine," he took part in the Bougainville Campaign in the Solomon Islands, where he was involved in some of the fiercest fighting against the island's defe nders. 10 When his parachute battalion was disbanded in 1944, Hayes was reassigned to

Company E, 2

nd

Battalion, 28

th Marine Regiment, as a regular infantryman, and was eventually deployed to Iwo Jima in 1945 11 It was on this volcanic island that Hayes's name would become legend. The story of the flag-raising would be significantly more complicated than the one that was told by the popular presses back in the United States. On February 23, a forty -man patrol led by

First Lieutenant

Harold G. Schrier ascended the eastern face of Mount Suribachi with the order to seize and occupy the mountain top. The men were instructed to raise the battalion's flag, if possible, to signal that the mountain had been secured. Hayes was not part of this first group that accomplished the task. Rather, he was part of a second detachment of Marines who were sent up Mount Suribachi to replace the original flag with a larger one. The reason why the flag was to be replaced was, reportedly, because the Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, saw the original flag and immediately wanted it for his own purposes. Forrestal's demand infuriated the regimental commander, Colonel Chandler Johnson, who wanted to make sure the Marines would 7

Melton, 154.

8 Melton, 155; "Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, USMC (Deceased)." 9 "Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, USMC (Deceased)." 10

Melton, 155-156.

11

Melton, 156.

10 still have a flag they could rightfully call their own 12

It was the second flag-raising that would

be immortalized in Rosenthal's photograph, and would thrust Hayes into the spotlight. When the battle ended a month later, Hayes was one of the few members of his platoon who survived the battle. Reportedly, out of the forty-five men in Hayes's platoon who landed on Iwo Jima, only five of them, including Hayes, survived the full month of fighting. Among those who were killed were three of the six flag raisers depicted in the photograph: Franklin Sousley, Michael Strank, and Harlon Block. 13 The fact that he survived when so many others had not weighed heavily on Hayes and made him all the more uncomfortable at being called a hero for raising the flag when he felt that the real heroes had been the people who fought and died on Iwo Jima. 14 The surviving flag-raisers were soon recalled to the United States by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to participate in the seventh bond tour to help raise money to pay for the war effort, though the president did not live long enough to receive them (they were instead received by President

Harry S. Truman).

15

The three men travelled to

numerous major cities across the United States, including New York , Detroit, and Chicago, and raised an estimated $26 billion to help pay for the war effor t. 16 Hayes, however, was not present for the entire bond drive. Embarrassed by his alcoholism (which likely came about as a result of PTSD and a readily available supply of alcohol during the drive), his superiors had Hayes returned to his unit. He continued to serve in the Ma rines until he was honorably discharged in December 1945. 17

Still haunted by his personal

demons, Hayes fell on troubled times after the war, suffering from substance abuse, which made 12

Melton, 157.

13

Breanne Robertson et al., Investigating Iwo: The Flag Raisings in Myth, Memory, & Esprit de Corps (Quantico:

Marine Corps History Division, 2019

), 109; Harlon Block had actually been misidentified as Sergeant Henry O.

Hansen, a mistake that was not rectified until 1947. Hayes was deeply unsettled by this error, and was even more

upset when his superiors ordered him to "keep quiet" about it. 14

Melton, 153-154.

15

"Truman Receives 3 Survivors of Mt. Suribachi Flag-Raising," Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), April 20, 1945.

16

Robert S. Burell, Ghost of Iwo Jima (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006), 161; Laurence M.

Olney, The War Bond Story (Washington: U.S. Savings Bond Division, 1971), 96. 17

Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers, 480.

11 it difficult for him to hold a steady job. 18 For a time, the only work he could find was on his father's farm. 19

No matter how hard he tried,

Hayes was never able to escape from his fame. He

died of exposure in Bapchule, Arizona, on January 24, 1955 at the age of thirty-two. 20 His funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church in Sacaton, with around two thousand people in attendance, and his body was later interred at Arlington National Cemetery. 21
Inserting Hayes into the Debate: The Historiography of Indigenous Peoples in World War II An examination of Hayes's legacy helps diversify the conversation regarding Indigenous involvement in World War II. Some 25,000 Indigenous

Peoples served in the U.S. military

during World War II. The vast majority served in the army, with only 874, including Hayes, in the Marines. 22

Much of the acade

mic scholarship has described Indigenous participation in broad terms. Meanwhile, cultural representations and popular conceptions have drawn specific attention to the Navajo Code Talkers, as well as Ira Hayes. 23
Both overlook the diverse experiences of Indigenous veterans, including those who were not were not Navajo Code

Talkers.

24
When the scholarship limits its discussion to Indigenous participation in broad terms, 18 Henry McLemore, "Ira Hayes is Looking for a Job," Charleston Daily Mail, May 27, 1953. 19

"Marine Survivors of Iwo Flag Raising Busy at Jobs," Salem News (Massachusetts), February 22, 1947; "What

Has Happened to 6 Who Raised Flag on Iwo?"

Des Moines Register

(Iowa), February 22, 1947; "Iwo Jima: Then

There Were Six; Now There Are Three," Daily Times (Davenport, Iowa), February 22, 1947; "3 in Iwo Jima

Photograph Alive 2 Yrs.," Daily American (Somerset, Pennsylvania), February 22, 1947; "Iwo Jima Flag-Raisers

Now Follow Peaceful Lives," Herald and Review (Decatur, Illinois), February 22, 1947. 20

Leighton C. Taylor, "Ira Hayes - A Hero to All but Himself," Gettysburg Times, February 17, 1955; "Ira Hayes

Never Made It Home: From Heroism

to Alcoholism," Dover Daily Reporter (Ohio), March 26, 1960. 21

Don Dedera, "Pima Tribesmen Weep for War Hero Brother," Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona), January 28,

1955.
22
Alison R. Bernstein, American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs (Norman:

University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), 40.

23

Some examples of the latter category include Scott R. Sheffield, Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War:

The Politics, Experiences and Legacies of War in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2019), Al Carrol, Medicine Bags and Dog Tags: American Indian Veterans from

Colonial Times to the Second Iraq War (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008), Alison R. Bernstein,

American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,

1991), and Jeré Franco, Crossing the Pond: The Native American Effort in World War II (Denton: University of

North Texas Press, 1999).

24
William C. Meadows, "'They Had a Chance to Talk to One Another...': The Role of Incidence in Native

American Code

Talking," Ethnohistory 56, no.2 (2009): 271. While the vast majority of Code Talkers were indeed 12 it ignores the broad socio-cultural diversity that exists among different Indigenous communities, and which would have influenced the ways that these communities and their members would have interacted with the war at large. For example, while the Navajo were quite proud of tribal citizens who served in the war, the Zuni Pueb lo were far less welcoming, believing that such contact with the outside world risked causing cultural contamination by exposing the tribe to non -Pueblo social and cultural values and habits. 25
quotesdbs_dbs35.pdfusesText_40

[PDF] raisonnement par l'absurde maths

[PDF] raisonnement par contraposée

[PDF] raisonnement par l'absurde français

[PDF] cadhérine

[PDF] fonction des récepteurs membranaires

[PDF] matrice extracellulaire

[PDF] molecule arn

[PDF] principe de raisonnement ? partir de cas

[PDF] phase de raisonnement synonyme

[PDF] raisonnement par cas

[PDF] lemme

[PDF] case based reasoning example

[PDF] samarium

[PDF] case based reasoning algorithm

[PDF] molecule de l'air