Ira Hamilton Hayes
(aka Kris H.)

Hi! I'm Ira Hamilton Hayes. My nickname is Chief Falling Cloud. I was born on January 12, 1923. I am a Pima Indian and I live on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Sacaton, Arizona. I am a veteran of World War II. I was a paramarine, 3rd parachute battalion, in the 29th Marines.

As a child I was an average student. I was a shy boy and always stayed in the background.  I liked riding horses bareback and playing with my three brothers on an old tire swing. I was the oldest of three brothers. We grew up in a mudpacked house without electricity.

When I was 19, I joined the U.S. Marines. I was deployed to the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II. It took 36 days to capture Iwo Jima. I was one of six marines who raised the U.S. flag on top of Mount Suribachi. I was the marine to the left reaching for the flag in the famous picture which was made into a memorial in Washington D.C. This was important because it meant that we had taken control of Iwo Jima. The island was important to the Japanese because it had two air fields and it was an important base for Japan's homeland defense.

I found it hard to adjust to civilian life after the war. I was lonely and sad. I died at age 32 on January 24, 1955. I was buried on a grassy hillside in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.

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