327

Family photographs and correspondence relating to Iwo Jima flag-raiser Ira Hayes of the Gila River Indian Community.

Various places, 1955-1977
45 items (0.2 linear feet), including 14 letters, 13 greeting cards, 17 photographs, and a magazine; generally minor wear.

  • Notes: Ira Hamilton Hayes (1923-1955) was a Pima from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona who served with distinction in the United States Marines during World War Two. He is best known as one of the six soldiers shown in the famous Rosenthal photograph "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima." Hayes played himself in the 1949 film, "The Sands of Iwo Jima," and he was a character in the 2006 film "Flags of Our Fathers." The anti-war song "Ballad of Ira Hayes" was covered by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. 

    Charles Kozak (1910-1978) served as an Army machinist during the war, and then worked as a tool and die maker in Cleveland. So far as we know, he and Hayes did not cross paths during the war. Shortly after Hayes died in 1955, Kozak sent the family a condolence letter, which sparked a lifelong friendship and a 1973 visit. Offered here:

    11 letters and 13 greeting cards from Ira Hayes's parents Joseph Hayes (1901-1986) and Nancy Whittaker Hayes (1901-1972) to Charles Kozak and Helen Gulick Kozak, 1955-1977. 3 of the letters were written by Nancy Hayes in 1955 shortly after Ira's death: "I promise to send you one of his letters from overseas. But after I had written, you are not the only one, there are others. An author who is writing a life story of Ira came and took all his letters to Washington and all the things I have about him. . . . I will send you one of his pictures." On 29 May 1955, Ira's mother still discussed him in present tense: "Thank you for the gift you send me. Received it with a lot of tears, not for sadness, but for joy. It lightened my heart for the memory of my son towards Mother's Day. Ira never forgets his mother, altho he never buys me anything, but he always give me money to buy myself something." Listening to the radio, she heard Ira mentioned: "His name will be long  remembered and it will come on. We should expect it any time." The other letters were by Ira's father Joe Hayes after Nancy's death, 1973-1977. 

    2 letters from Jonathan Milda, who the Kozaks had met at the Gila River Indian Community, 1973-1974; and one draft letter from the Kozaks to the Hayes family.

    17 photographs. One is a well-known official Marine Corps portrait of Ira Hayes, with a Marine Corps printed caption on verso, and a gift inscription by Ira's father and brother circa 1973-1977: "To Helen & Charley Kozak, remember we love you. Joe & Kenney Hayes." Two are official Marine Corps photos of the Hayes family visiting Washington for a ceremony; 6 show the dedication of the Ira Hayes monument in Bapchule, AZ in 1957. One is a color Air Force portrait of Ira's brother Leonard Alvin Hayes (1925-1962). 7 are snapshots of the Kozaks while visiting the Hayes family in Arizona in 1973.

    With--an issue of True West magazine with a long cover article on Ira Hayes, February 1971. 
  • Condition:
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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