The Native Marine In America’s Most Famous WWII Photograph – And What Happened After He Came Home
The poverty was the same.
The limited opportunities were the same.
The federal policies that constrained Akimel O’odham economic and political life were largely unchanged.
The war had not transformed the Gila River Indian Community.
The country had celebrated Hayes and what he represented without meaningfully addressing the conditions of the community he came from.
He tried farming.
He tried working in cotton fields.
He tried other jobs.