Ask Ira Hayes.
He won't answer any more.
They did a great disservice to Ira Hayes and the other survivors of the group caught in the photo of the flagraisers when they were singled out and treated as heroes. They didn't feel any more deserving of the attention than of all the other Americans fighting and dying on Iwo Jima. They were all heroes, but those six just happened to be in the photograph. Without all that publicity, maybe Ira Hayes would have been more successful in readjusting to civilian life.
I mean no disrespect to Ira Hayes but the situations are not entirely comparable. Hayes was one of millions who served bravely in WWII, but he didn't have to worry about Japanese tracking him down in Arizona afterwards to try to kill him, in the way that the man who shot Bin Laden has to fear Al Qaeda.
Why single out Ira Hayes?
Why not John Bradley?
He was there also, going on on to have a very successful career, raise a family and never spoke of his involvement (his son wrote 'Flags of our Father' and never knew the full story.
Ira Hayes found solace in alcohol, Mr. Brady responded differently.
Both men experienced the same thing, while responding differently. You cannot blame that on the government (though they are not w/o sin in the whole thing).