The Outsider 1961

The 17-year-old Ira Hamilton Hayes has never been off the Pima reservation in Arizona when he enlists in the United States Marine Corps to serve his country in World War II. Hayes is shunned by fellow Marines or mocked as "Chief" by them except for one, Jim Sorenson. By chance they are two of the six U.S. servicemen who hoist the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the violent battle at Iwo Jima. A photograph of them becomes an iconic image of the war, serving as the basis for a memorial that was installed in Arlington, Virginia. After this action, Sorenson is killed by enemy fire. A morose and traumatized Hayes returns home, where he is proclaimed a hero and recruited to help sell war bonds to the public. As his depression mounts, Hayes, feeling unworthy of the attention and publicity, takes refuge in whiskey.