FReeper Canteen ~ National Navajo Code Talkers Day, August 14 ~ 14 August 2017

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In the Whole World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

The FReeper Canteen Presents…..

~ August 14th … National Navajo Code Talkers Day! ~

On July 26, 2001, the original 29 Code Talkers were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush. This long awaited recognition occurred 56 years after World War II despite the fact that the Code saved thousands of lives. The Code had been de-classified in 1968.

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

The Navajo Code Talkers received no recognition until the declassification of the operation in 1968. In 1982, the code talkers were given a Certificate of Recognition by President Ronald Reagan, who also named August 14 "National Navaho Code Talkers Day."

How Great Thou Art ~ Choctaw

During World War II (1939-1945), the U.S. Marines trained Navajo soldiers as code talkers. During military campaigns in the Pacific, the Navajo soldiers relayed secret messages about troop movements and enemy locations in the Navajo language. Because of the complexity of the language, the Japanese were never able to decipher the code.

The idea to use Navajo for secure communications came from Philip Johnston, the son of a missionary to the Navajos and one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language fluently.

Johnston, reared on the Navajo reservation, was a World War I veteran who knew of the military's search for a code that would withstand all attempts to decipher it. He also knew that Native American languages--notably Choctaw--had been used in World War I to encode messages.

Johnston believed Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code because Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity. Its syntax and tonal qualities, not to mention dialects, make it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training.

It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest. One estimate indicates that less than 30 non-Navajos could understand the language at the outbreak of World War II.

In May 1942, the first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp. Then, at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, this first group created the Navajo code. They developed a dictionary and numerous words for military terms. The dictionary and all code words had to be memorized during training.

Once a Navajo code talker completed his training, he was sent to a Marine unit deployed in the Pacific theater. The code talkers' primary job was to talk, transmitting information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield communications over telephones and radios. They also acted as messengers, and performed general Marine duties.

In this photograph, two Navajo Indians, Corporal Henry Bake, Jr., left, and Private First Class George H. Kirk, operate a portable radio set in a clearing they created in the dense jungle close to the front lines.

Praise for their skill, speed and accuracy accrued throughout the war. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima." Connor had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the first two days of the battle. Those six sent and received over 800 messages, all without error.

The Japanese, who were skilled code breakers, remained baffled by the Navajo language. The Japanese chief of intelligence, Lieutenant General Seizo Arisue, said that while they were able to decipher the codes used by the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps, they never cracked the code used by the Marines.

Cousins, Preston and Frank Toledo - Ballarat, Australia.
The Navajo code talkers even stymied a Navajo soldier taken prisoner at Bataan. (About 20 Navajos served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines.) The Navajo soldier, forced to listen to the jumbled words of talker transmissions, said to a code talker after the war, "I never figured out what you guys who got me into all that trouble were saying."

In a ceremony in the Capitol on July 26, 2001, the original twenty-nine Navajo "code talkers" received the Congressional Gold Medal, and subsequent code talkers received the Congressional Silver Medal.

It is the only unbroken code in modern military history. It baffled the Japanese forces of WWII. In fact, during test evaluations, Marine cryptologists said they couldn't even transcribe the language, much less decode it.

Click for more.

Chester Nez, the last original Navajo Code Talker, dies at 93.

012321 ~ 060414

RIP

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

[luvie]

It is! You know how I HATE hard work. LOL!

[radu]

Come on. You know you love the thrill of a race as much as the rest of us. LOL

[luvie]

Weeellllll....yep! :)

[radu]

LOL!
That’s where the real fun is. :-)

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Monday morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Thanks for this morning's thread, Star. How's it going?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening/morning, Nifster...they sure did.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Have a great week.

[proud American in Canada]

<>I wish someone with clout would suggest it to him! :)

I think someone should prepare a movie night for him. :) Bring on the popcorn and iced tea and pop in "Windtalkers." :)

The North Koreans would have no idea... ;)

p.s., love that movie, too; also watch it every time I see it on t.v. :)

[beachn4fun]

Good morning, Canteen.

Good morning to our

Military, our Allies, and their families.

Thank you, Ma, for preparing
the Canteen for today's activities.
Can't stay but had to stop in to read
the interesting story of Code Talkers.

We had a lot of rain from Friday into Saturday night.
Thankfully, Sunday was a nice, sunny day.
Most of the week will be sunny,
so hope to get some pool time while grandkids are here.

Please stay right where you are.
Chat up the military or a family member.
No need to fret...you know I'll be back!

The FR Canteen is

Come in and sit for a while.
There's always plenty of coffee, tea,
pancakes, conversation, silliness,
and plain old BS

REMEMBER THEM ~ DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Beach. Just finished cutting the grass. How’s it going for you this morning?

[luvie]

I’ll bet he’d think it a good idea! :)

[luvie]

Whaaaaaaaaa??
It's Monday already?
Hope you Early Birds got to work on time!
...and that it's an easy day/week!
Can you believe that school is starting up again?
I'll bet the kids are wondering where their summer went!
I know I would have been!
Anyhoooooo....🦉.....Y'all have a Mahv'lus Monday!
...and a GREAT week!
((((hugs))))

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, LUV W. How’s it going?

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you.

[luvie]

Howdy, EGC! (((Hugs)))

All is well here. Pretty, sunny day....maybe a bit warmer than I like, but it IS summer. LOL!

Did you and Bo have a fun weekend? Did he find some critters to play with?

[E.G.C.]

Bo found a turtle out at the lake yesterday. We had a great time out there.

[luvie]

That’s great. I’m sure he had a blast! No running away into the trees this time? :)

[E.G.C.]

Nope, no running into the trees. He actually found the turtle just as we were entering the forest.

[proud American in Canada]

I’ll bet he’d think it a good idea! :)

I bet so, too! :)

Take care, FRiend. :)

[luvie]

You, too!

Come back to visit the FReeper Canteen any time. There’s always something happening here....or maybe you already have before and I just missed it! :)