Posted on 08/14/2009 2:58:53 PM PDT by ballplayer
Congratulations to the Navajo Code Talkers for a Job Well Done ,On this National Code Talkers Day, From What I understand there are only a Few Left Surviving
The Navajo patriots stepped up for WWII service and I'm humbled by what they did to defend us and defeat the enemy. To the proud and beautiful people of Kayenta, I salute you.
My Dad was a Radio Man in the 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbird Division, originally a National Guard unit out of the Southwest. He was with them from North Africa, Sicily, Salerno and Anzio where he was wounded just after.
Dad was Portuguese decent from Provincetown, Mass. He said he was drunk and ended up on the wrong train.
Anyway..Dad understood Italian but he always had to have a Native-American with him to do the talking on the radio.
I grew up in Gallup, NM which is a stone’s throw from the Navajo Indian Reservation. Their language is very hard to understand. Most of the old ones who still speak Navajo will be gone in another decade or two at most, and the Navajo language will all be gone too. Replaced by English.
We lost two more of the Code Talkers this year. There’s not many of them left either.
I lost three uncles in the Bataan Death March, so I really appreciate what those brave Code Talkers did for our surviving troops!
Many Navajos serve in our military today! God Bless them all for their service to America!
Interesting, thank you, Wilum.
Were they so different than other radio operators, other than using their own language?
About 30 years ago I went through Gallup on a trip. To the west of town and south of I-40 there was a military base with dozens of bunker type structures isolated from one another. Do you have any idea what those were?
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