Ira Hayes was born on January 12, 1923, in Bapchule, Arizona. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on August 26, 1942, and after completing basic training at MCRD San Diego, California, and Parachute School at Camp Gillespie, California, he served with B Company of the 3rd Parachute Battalion at Camp Elliot, California, from December 1942 to March 1943. PFC Hayes served with K Company of the 3rd Parachute Battalion at New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Vella Lavella, and Bougainville in the Pacific from March 1943 to February 1944, and then with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment of the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, from February to September 1944. He then deployed with his unit to Camp Tarawa, Hawaii, from September 1944 to January 1945, to Enewetok and Saipan during February 1944, and to Iwo Jima from February to March 1945, during which time he was one of the flag raisers of the replacement flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. Hayes returned to Camp Tarawa, Hawaii, with his unit in March 1945, and was assigned to C Company, 1st Headquarters Battalion in Washington, D.C., to complete a War Bond Tour from April to May 1945. Cpl Hayes then returned to his unit at Camp Tarawa from May to September 1945, serving on occupation duty in Japan from September to October 1945, and after returning to the United States he was given an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on December 1, 1945. Ira Hayes died on January 24, 1955, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.