FReeper Canteen ~ National Navajo Code Talkers Day, August 14 ~ 14 August 2018

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The 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.

[Forty-Niner]

While attending Electronics schools at the Marine Recruit Depot in San Diego I noticed that the photos of WWII classes were all of obvious American Indian ethnicity. At the time I was unaware of Navaho “code talkers.”

When the schools moved from MCRD to 29 Palms those photos disappeared. I never saw them again.

The “code” was actually plain language Navaho though they had to use substitute words/phrases to convey technical/modern military jargon. For instance since there is no Navaho word for a “tank” the code talkers would use the agreed on Navaho word for “turtle.” Simple and direct the use of the Navaho language provided both speed and accuracy in radio communications without the need of complicated decoding equipment and any fear of enemy translation!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, E...((HUGS))...we got some welcome rain, too.

Glad you got rain, and glad your plumbing is almost all fixed.

You and Gizmo have a good Tuesday.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, ML...((HUGS))...you got your mud room just in time for mud. d:o)

Have a good Tuesday. Hope you and Penny can get out and walk.

[radu]

We hope it does the same here when the system arrives later in the week. They say we’ll have wave after wave for three days and just rain will suit us fine.
BUT, if there’s a little lightning here and there, I’ll have the camera ready. LOL

Glad you didn’t get any. Having to reboot the router after big storms gets to be a pain after a while.

[Nifster]

Wonderful. Thank you

[Biggirl]

Also there was a movie about the code talkers.

[Biggirl]

“Windtalkers”.

[Biggirl]

At least their heroic efforts will not be forgotten.

[left that other site]

Wow! Stay safe, my FRiend!

[left that other site]

Thanks!

I haven’t had a mud room since 1974! Finally.

[BDParrish]

Dad was III Amphib Corps Signal Battalion but while detached because of a wound, he spent some time on Guam typing letters for officers. He spent a lot of time with the Navajos. He is 93 today and he still talks about those men. From all I ever heard, they are as great American heroes as any in our whole history.

And you know, I rightly believe it!

[luvie]

Easy on those drums this early!
Night Owls gotta get sleep sometime! LOL!
It's a nice sunny coolish [75°] day.
Maybe I'll even DO something constructive.
Or not.
Decisions only after my TEA! ;)
All y'all have a Terrific Tuesday!
(((hugs)))

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

“Decisions only after my TEA! ;)”

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

[luvie]

Hahahahahaha!

Dude....ya took the BAIT! 😝

[Kathy in Alaska]

Oh my goodness, Publius...you have had 2 distinct adventures. Hope you are safely away from any flooding. How is it getting to and from work?

And finding more than you expected in the music adventure...what a find for you.

[Publius]

The floods happen at night when I’m safely ensconced in my apartment. No problems during the day.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Aweeeeeeeeeeeeee...boy, are you popular!!