Factual error: When the Marines strip off and run into the sea in the final scene, Doc takes off a pair of white socks that would be more appropriate for a final at Wimbledon. Not only are they white rather than khaki, they are virtually spotlessly clean which would be impossible after a week of fighting on the black sands of Iwo Jima.
Factual error: The water is perfectly still around the ships as they bombard the island. When the cannons fires there are small ripples on the water from the shockwave, but around the ship it remains perfectly calm.
Answer: Following WWII, Ira Hayes hated the fame and sensational publicity associated the flag-raising at Iwo Jima. Deeply depressed, Hayes descended into alcoholism over the next few years, and it eventually killed him. Director Clint Eastwood actually underplayed the true extent of Hayes' sad decline, and the scene you mention was no doubt dramatized for the screen. In real life, Hayes was arrested 52 times for public intoxication and disorderly conduct at various places across the country before his death.
Would that be a yes, or no? I've got autism.
It's yes, but he/she is saying that the incident was probably exaggerated for the purpose of the movie, to make it more dramatic. It likely combined a number of similar drunken incidents into the one scene.
raywest