He Raised the Flag at Iwo Jima — And the Photo Haunted Him

Описание: Ira Hayes helped raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. The photograph taken that morning became one of the most famous images of the Second World War.

But for Hayes, the image did not represent triumph.

In this documentary, we examine the documented history behind the photograph — the battle for Iwo Jima, the Seventh War Bond Tour, the public misidentification of the flag-raisers, and the postwar struggles that followed.

Ira Hayes was a member of the Pima people from the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. He served in the 28th Marine Regiment and survived one of the most brutal battles of the Pacific War. Three of the six men in the iconic photograph did not survive the campaign.

After the image spread across the United States, Hayes was brought home to help raise war bonds. The country saw a symbol. He remembered the men who had not come back.

This video explores:

• The Battle of Iwo Jima
• The raising of the second flag on Mount Suribachi
• The War Bond Tour of 1945
• Survivor’s guilt among WWII veterans
• The postwar life and death of Ira Hayes
• The legacy of the Marine Corps War Memorial

The photograph still stands as one of the defining images of World War II. The man in it had a story that went far beyond that moment.

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