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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 12/21/2002 12:12:15 AM PST by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.
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The Code That Was Never Broken It is easy to forget what the world was like in the early 1940s. With the United States being slowly pulled into the escalating conflict in Europe, we suddenly found ourselves faced with a two-front war as the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, followed by the Axis Powers declaration of war just four days later. One of the intelligence weapons the Japanese possessed was an elite group of welltrained English speaking soldiers, used to intercept U.S. communications, then sabotage the message or issue false commands to ambush American troops. Military code became more and more complex – at Guadalcanal, military leaders complained that it took two and a half hours to send and decode a single message.  The "first twenty-nine," as they are sometimes referred to, are the first twenty-nine enlistees credited with the development of the original code, consisting of approximately 200 terms. It was designed to be short and concise and used or combined standard native words to create new terms for military hardware. But what proved to be most inventive, and confusing to the enemy, was the incorporation of an innovative alphabet to cover unforseen contingencies. Using this method, the Navajo Code Talker could use distinctly different words for the exact same message, making the code extremely complex, but at the same time improving the speed of vital military communications. Due to its very flexibility, development of the code continued under subsequent Navajo Code Talkers, growing to over 600 terms. By the end of the war the Navajo code, and the very technique by which it was developed, became the most innovative, successful, and closely guarded military secret code of its time.  First twenty-nine Navajo U.S. Marine Corps code-talker recruits being sworn in at Fort Wingate, NM. Between the creation and the code's evolution is a distinction worthy of note. While all Navajo Code Talkers deserve recognition for their contribution to the code's use and continuing development, the original twenty-nine members gave birth to the idea, setting the standard for this living code. To decipher a message coded by the Navajo Code Talkers, the recipient first translated the Navajo words into English, and then used the first letter of each English word to decipher the meaning. Because different Navajo words might be translated into different English words for the same letter, the code was especially difficult to decipher. For example, for the letter "A," the Code Talker could use "wol-la-chee" (ant), "be-la-sana," (apple), or "tse-nill" (ax). Some military terms that had no equivalent in Navajo were assigned their own code word. The word America, for example, was "Ne-he-mah" (Our mother). Submarine became "besh-lo" (iron fish).  Military commanders credited the Code with having saved the lives of countless American soldiers and with the successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo Code Talkers working around the clock during the first forty-eight hours of the battle. Those six sent and received more than 800 messages, all without error. Major Connor declared, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."
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| Chief Petty Officer Carl Moore meets his daughter, 3-month-old Gracie Elizabeth, for the first time Friday as the carrier George Washington came home. At right is his wife, Angela. Photo by Genevieve Ross / The Virginian-Pilot.
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| Slide show: Photos from the pierside reunions Video: Sailors return / GW at pier / Families wait Guestbook: Post welcome home messages / More |
``She's beautiful,'' Moore said of the 3-month-old daughter he met for the first time Friday.
Moore, 30, missed wife Angela's third trimester. He missed labor. He missed the delivery. He missed the sleepless nights, the falling away of the umbilical cord, the feedings, the countless diaper changes, the gentle finger squeezes and the first looks of recognition as his newborn began to understand those around her.
Chief Petty Officer Moore, and 137 other ``new dads'' on the carrier George Washington, missed all that because they were on a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East.
Friday morning, many of those fathers met their children for the first time on a rain- and wind-swept pier at Norfolk Naval Station. Angela Moore welcomed her husband with a long hug and no complaints, although she did say she was so looking forward to having help with the grocery shopping.
Squeezed between the reunited Moores was son Mason, 5, apologizing to his daddy for dropping the welcome home flowers into a puddle.
``You know I'd rather have you than flowers any day,'' Moore said to Mason. Continue
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 21, 2002
Radio Address by the President to the Nation
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As families across the nation gather to celebrate Christmas, Laura and I want to extend our best wishes for the holidays. We hope that this Christmas will be a time of happiness in your home, and a time of peace in the world.
In this season, we celebrate with our families and deeply miss love ones who are no longer with us. Thousands of families in our nation are still grieving over the terrible losses that came to them last year on September the 11th. We have not forgotten their loss and we continue to pray for their comfort.
The Christmas season brings a deeper concern for fellow citizens in need. Our country is prosperous, yet we must also remember there are pockets of despair in America. Some men and women are facing the struggles of illness and old age with no one to help them or pray with them. Other Americans fight against terrible addictions. Some young men have no family but a gang. Some teenage moms are abandoned and alone. And some children wonder if anybody loves them.
We all share a responsibility to help, both through our government and through individual acts of compassion. In this season of giving, I hope all Americans will look for opportunities to donate and volunteer where the need is greatest. By reaching out to a neighbor in need, we make our country a more just and generous place.
Our entire nation is also thinking at this time of year of the men and women in the military, many of whom will spend Christmas at posts and bases far from home. They stand between Americans and grave danger. They serve in the cause of peace and freedom. They wear the uniform proudly, and we are so proud of them.
I have met with these idealistic young men and women across America and around the world. I know the sacrifices they make. And in every place they serve, they can know that they have the love of their families and the gratitude of their nation.
At this time of year, we appreciate all the blessings that fill our lives, especially the great blessing that came on a holy night in Bethlehem. The Christmas story speaks to every generation. It is the story of a quiet birth in a little town on the margins of an indifferent empire. Yet that single event set the direction of history and still changes millions of lives.
For over two millennia, Christmas has carried the message that God is with us, and because he is with us we can always live in hope. The world we live in is very different from the world of ancient Bethlehem. Our need for that hope is still unchanged. In all the challenges and dangers of our day, we still seek the promise of peace on Earth.
Thank you for listening and merry Christmas.
END
It is. Very much so. Thank you for thinking of me; I must have been composing when you pinged me.
xone.
Both Frank Capra and the sudio considered the movie to be a flop.
Now you can see it a least a dozen times between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Happy Holidays
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 An airman kisses his wife upon his return to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., Thursday, Dec. 19,2002. The airman, part of the Rampagers Squadron, returned home after a six-month deployment aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Jason M. Hirschfeld)  Members of Fighter Squadron VFA-83 return in formation to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2002.  Katie DeLong squints towards the sky as she looks for her Father's plane along with her grandmother, Della, and brother Trey at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2002. Her father, Lt. Larry DeLong is aa member of the (VFA-83) Rampagers Squadron which returned after a six-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Jason M. Hirschfeld)
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Worth repeating, thanks!
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