A well-researched and well biography of Ira Hayes who most people outside of WWII history buffs and Marines. Because Marines know the history of the Corp don’t know. I found the book informative, given finding out things that I didn’t know. Seeing as how I’m well versed in Marine Corp history being the daughter of a Marine.

'Ira Hayes': A Native American Warrior With PTSD
Ira Hayes was one of the six Marines photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima. In popular memory, he is the Native American who became a Marine hero at Iwo Jima and died at 36, a drunk.

“Ira Hayes: The Akimel O’odham Warrior, World War II, and the Price of Heroism” by Tom Holm shows that there was more to Hayes. It reveals him to be an intelligent, sensitive man scarred by Post Traumatic Shock Disorder (PTSD) who, due to ignorance about the disorder, was never allowed to heal.

Holm examines Hayes and his tribe, the Akimel O’odham. With long military traditions, the tribe was a longtime U.S. ally against Spain, Mexico, and other Native American tribes. Yet ultimately, the tribe’s reward was to be robbed of their water rights and wealth. They became impoverished in the late 19th century.

Hayes, coming from a warrior tradition, fit naturally in the Marines and became an outstanding soldier. Holm shows him as smart, outgoing, and sensitive in high school. In boot camp, he was disciplined and sober, the one who did not drink on leave. Hays became parachute and Raider qualified. In combat on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, he proved a brave and competent combatant.

The Misfortune of Fame

Being photographed raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima led to Hayes’s unwanted participation in the Seventh War Bond tour.

By Iwo Jima’s end, he was suffering from PTSD, then called combat fatigue. He watched close buddies die, comrades at Bougainville and Iwo Jima. He felt that the dead were the heroes, not him. Tribal tradition taught modesty as an important warrior value and discouraged contact with the dead, which were ever-present at Iwo Jima.

Instead of needed rest, Hayes was forced into public view. His actions were spotlighted, and celebratory drinks were pushed on him. Under this stress, all three surviving Marines overindulged. Hayes, a Native American, was singled out for drinking. Pulled from the tour, he was sent back to his unit without being allowed home leave.

There were other stresses as well. A dead buddy, one of the other flag raisers, went uncredited. Hayes was ordered to stay silent about this fact, and left the Marines to be free to tell the truth. Then he returned to an impoverished existence. After defending his county, he could not vote in Arizona. With untreated PTSD, made to feel worthless, and singled out and punished for his drinking because he was a “drunken Indian,” he spiraled down.

Holm’s book makes for grim reading, but it remains worthwhile. Although a tragedy, Ira Hayes’s life is worth honoring.

'Ira Hayes: the Akimel O’odham Warrior, World War II, and the Price of Heroism'
By Tom Holm
Twelve, Aug. 1, 2023
Hardcover: 320 pages

Johnny Cash Was (At Least Partly) Wrong! Admittedly, the title of this review is mostly click-bait. But it *is* an accurate summary of this text - and yes, the text does at least briefly examine the song itself as well. Holm does a remarkable job of showing the history that created Ira Hayes, one of the six men immortalized forever in "The Photograph" of the American flag raising at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima during the WWII battle which became the basis of so many memorials... including a not-small one in Washington, DC. As with the better history books, Holm shows the relevant histories that lead into the famous events at hand- and the biography and histories of the fallout of the events, including the various impacts to both the man Ira Hayes and the cultural icon/ touchstone Ira Hayes. Yes, including the various movies, the various incarnations of The Ballad of Ira Hayes (including the Man in Black's), and even discussing the book The Flags of Our Fathers and its movie incarnation as well. At 22% documentation, it is reasonably well documented, and there are no overly startling revelations here - though there is perhaps much new knowledge, depending on one's own knowledge set when coming into this book. For example, the histories of the Akimel and Apache wars and interactions, and even how they waged war (both the weapons involved and the tactics and ceremonies) was new knowledge to me - and utterly fascinating.

Overall a well told and well examined history with no obvious flaws or even any overt political diatribes, this is a book that anyone interested in a more complete tale of Ira Hayes will enjoy. Very much recommended.

Sometimes PTSD, survivor's guilt, and alcoholism win.
It's hard to hear that you're a hero when your self-esteem keeps plummeting, the nightmares don't get any better, the alcohol has a firm hold on you, and people call you nasty names. That's what happened to one (of far too many) combat veterans the world over and from time immemorial. This story of this one man in his time is needed and should be appreciated, and this author does a remarkable job of it.
Thank you for your Service, Marine.
I requested and received an EARC from Twelve Books via NetGalley. Thank you

A truly heartbreaking story about a true hero and Medal of Honor winner from WW2. The book does an excellent job of telling his life story and downfall after the war. His life story should be an example to all. A great story.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sometimes, if you want to right a wrong, you need to write a book.

Tom Holm attempts to do so in his book, "Ira Hayes" about the American Indian Marine who was one of the six to raise the American flag at Iwo Jima. Holm tries to rescue Hayes from the popular portrayal of the "drunk Indian" stereotype and put him in the context of trauma, heroism, cultural trauma, and PTSD.

To properly give my two cents on this work, I actually have to jump to the end of the book in Holm's Afterword. As I read through the narrative, I felt like I was picking up on cues about Holm's own viewpoint. Generally, with authors who are detached from their subjects, you can't always tell what they are thinking. Holm does not write like that. You can actually feel every searing indictment as he expounds upon the treatment of American Indians and Veterans back from war. If you are looking for a dispassionate biography of Ira Hayes, then this book is probably not from you. Honestly, I don't think that's who Holm is writing for anyway. Holm himself in his Afterword calls out his own struggle to stay unprejudiced as he is an American Indian and Veteran himself who has his own journey with PTSD. (Full disclosure: I am an Iraq War Veteran with PTSD.) I believe it made this book better having an author who was invested in righting a wrong. Most importantly, I think he was successful in re-framing how we think about Ira Hayes.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Twelve Books.)

I've read a lot about Ira Hayes over the years, but just when you think that there isn't much more to say, a book like this comes along to shatter all your beliefs. This was a great book about a real hero who asked for so little from life, and got less than he truly deserved,