FReeper Canteen ~ National Navajo Code Talkers Day, August 14th ~ 13 August 2015

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.

[beachn4fun]

WELCOME TO THE

(where our troops, allies
and their families can refresh themselves)

Good morning, Everyone.

Good morning to our

Military, our Allies, and their families.

Thank you, Ma, for preparing the Canteen
for today's activities
Stopping in to pay my respects to the Code Talkers
annual remembrance.

It won't come as any surprise
that I will post and run.

Today is my FRiday!
And...I'm off Monday! Yes!
Getting in practice for October. hehe

Plus, it's a beautiful morning and
I going for a walk; plus
I have reports that need to be done
before I leave today.

Come in, sit down.
Grab a cup of joe or tasty tea.
Mingle a bit, chat with the troops
or family member.
There's always plenty of conversation, silliness,
and plain old BS in the FR Canteen.

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.

[Soaring Feather]

Kathy, saying a prayer for your surgery to go well. Big HUGS.

Yes, got in some porch time, however the weather has taken a turn to very cool, not very nice sitting out in the damp. I get chilly then have to scoot inside for warm up.

Thinking of you!

[E.G.C.]

Thursday morning coffee bump.

((HUGS))Good morning, Beach. How's it going?

[lysie]

Prayers for your surgery.

[luvie]

Hey! You Early Birds up and at 'em?
I'm up....but that's about it. :)
We had a teensy bit of rain last evening...
...but not enough,
.... and all it did was raise the humidity. Ugh!
Y'all have a Fabulous Friday Eve!
....and Beachy, enjoy your long weekend! :)
October will be here before you know it!
What will be the first thing on your retirement agenda?
(((((hugs))))...y'all!
Arrow and Drumbo...a special ((((hug)))) for you two!

[beachn4fun]

Good morning EG ((HUGS))

I’m busy as a bee, right now.

Howz it going with you?

[beachn4fun]

Good morning night owl ((HUGS))

Happy to see you up, and trying to get at ‘em.

Well, besides sleeping past 4:30, I have several home projects I will get started on. Then, eventually, more writing, some art-craft projects, learning to can (mostly learn to make jellies), and visiting.

Have a terrifically, thrilling Thursday.

[luvie]

Thinking about you this morning as you go through your eye surgery! Prayers that it is as successful as the first one!

((((hugs))))

[left that other site]

Ha Ha Ha!

This is a scene from the same movie (”Downfall”) that the infamous “Hitler Finds Out That...” videos are from. It is an extremely serious and ind intense movie, and one of my all-time favorite WW2 flicks.In my more recent viewings, it has been difficult to get through the Famous “”Hitler Finds Out” Bunker Scene without thinking of the millions of parodies that I have seen. Now, yet ANOTHER scene from this grim, series, and dire movie has been added to my LOL list.

Oh My....

[left that other site]

Thank You!

Prayer works! :-)

[E.G.C.]

Going OK. Enjoying the cooler weather. At least it’s not 105 heat index. :-)

[beachn4fun]

Sounds good.

We’re in for warmer temps by the weekend.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

BEAUTIFUL, DUDESS! ;-)

[luvie]

Dude!

Thanks! :)

[SevenofNine]

Hey Kathy as former Alaskan resident I am asking here

What took Feds so over to honor this group WTF

http://www.adn.com/article/20150812/va-secretary-pays-tribute-wwii-alaska-native-militia

[SandRat]

[HiJinx]

Oops, too late now to pray for the surgery...so I’ll ask Him to guide you in recovery and bless you with quick and painless healing.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Ms Feather...surgery went well. Still some swelling so vision hasn’t cleared yet, but doc says everything looks good and healing is looking good. Small headache persists, but small naps and ibuprofen should help. *hugs*

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, lysie...surgery went well, and the healing is going well. Still very blurry, but the doc says when the swelling goes down it will clear.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, HJ....the first eye settled down much more quickly than this one is. My follow up yesterday went well. The doc said everything is in place and healing nicely. This eye has much more swelling and until that goes down, the blurry stays. I think it is progressing slowly but surely. The minor headache persists so more naps and ibuprofen. The first eye is going really well and picking up the slack for distance. Two new eyes together are making known the need for glasses for reading and computer distances. Won’t know for sure until both are settled.

Waiting is the name of the game right now.