"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" was written by folk singer Peter La Farge

Peter La Farge

Peter La Farge was a New York-based folksinger and songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s...

. It tells the story of Ira Hayes

Ira Hayes

Ira Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine...

, one of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who became famous for having raised the flag

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...

 on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...

 of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The song has been recorded many times; the most popular version is by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

. Patrick Sky

Patrick Sky

Patrick Sky is a musician, singer and songwriter of Irish and Native American ancestry...

 covered it on his self-titled 1965 debut album

Patrick Sky (album)

Patrick Sky is the self-titled debut album of Patrick Sky, released in 1965 on the Vanguard label.-Side One:# "Many a Mile"# "Hangin' Round"# "Love Will Endure"# "Reuben" # "Rattlesnake Mountain" # "Everytime"...

 (and later for a 1985 album)

Through A Window

-Side A:*1." San Francisco Bay Blues"**I'll never forget Jesse Fuller playing his Foot-Della [sic] at the Gaslight in New York. He played a 3-hour set and had to be dragged offstage.*2. "Ramblin' Boy"**Tom Paxton's best....

.

Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

 covered the song on his 1963 Album Broadside Ballads Volume 2

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 followed suit by covering the song during his sessions for Self Portrait

Self Portrait (Bob Dylan album)

Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...

, though his version did not see release until Columbia

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 used it as part of the Dylan album of 1973.

Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...

 covered this song during a rare television appearance. Kinky Friedman

Kinky Friedman

Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...

 did a cover of the song on his 1976 record Lasso from El Paso

Lasso from El Paso

-Side One:#"Sold American" - 3:36#"Twinkle" - 3:21#"Ahab the Arab" - 3:31#"Dear Abbie" - 3:12#"Kinky" - 2:57 #"Lady Yesterday" - 3:57-Side Two:...

.