Posted on 08/14/2010 9:25:16 AM PDT by Michael Zak
By proclamation of President Ronald Reagan, this day in 1982 became the first National Navaho Code Talkers Day. The code talkers rendered an invaluable service as the U.S. Marines during WWII. They used their native language as a military code, which the Japanese failed to break. Some four hundred Navaho Indians were code talkers, with thirteen being killed in action.
President Reagan said:
"Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate August 14, 1982, as National Navaho Code Talkers Day, a day dedicated to all members of the Navaho Nation and to all Native Americans who gave of their special talents and their lives so that others might live. I ask the American people to join me in this tribute, and I call upon Federal, State and local officials to commemorate this day with appropriate activities."
Military heroes come in all races, colors and creeds.
Starting with George Washington and John Paul Jones, then continuing on with Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, George Armstrong Custer, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, William Barrett Travis, Sam Houston, then on to Alvin York, Audie Murphy, Neville Brand, Ira Hayes, General George Patton, Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Halsey, Nimitz and in more modern times Schwartzkopf and Petraeus.
I know I have left out so many but in truth all who serve in our great military deserve special recognition, honor and respect because they are the line of first defense - and sometimes offense as they are called upon to do from time to time - of our freedom loving nation. Their sacrifice and their families sacrifice is especially noteworthy and quite often underappreciated. God bless them all.
I had no idea there were so many.
The Windtalkers saved thousands of lives during WWII.
BTW, thanks to intercepted radio chatter in English, the Japanese knew that the code talkers were speaking in Navaho. They even tracked down two Navaho POW’s in the Philippines and tortured them, but the prisoners could not make sense of the double-cosing, e.g. referring to airplanes as burds, etc.
And how many lives were saved by the small groups of scientists and engineers who invented the two atomic bombs? Millions?
I have nothing against the Windtalkers, Codetalkers - whatever title you want to give them; but when you create a special day for a special interest, you ignore the other special interests and dimminish their contributions.
What about the teams that developed the first Predators? Or the teams that networked satellite, airborne radars, ground based radar and field observations into one coherent system? Do they get their day too?
The Porta-potty brigade? Who else?
In all my research for UNSUNG HEROES OF WORLD WAR II: THE STORY OF THE NAVAJO CODE TALKERS, I never saw the word “Windtalkers.” The story in the movie is fiction based on a seed of fact... there were Navajo Code Talkers and they did have guards to protect them and the code. In fact, the producer contacted me while the movie was being made and my book is mentioned in the trailers pormoting the film. She received an advance copy from Facts On File. They worked to make a realistic movie but it is fiction created for entertainment. I enjoyed the movie. And, yes the Code Talkers made a huge contribution to the war effort in the Pacific and helped save many lives. The Japanese could not break the Navajo code.
That’s a tad unkind, doncha think?
The United States Army used Indian code talkers in WWI and continued to use them in WWII in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe.
The Army tends to be matter of fact about it’s military history though and is not constantly seeking publicity, so it doesn’t play up everything.
The United States Army and Marine Corps also used white and negro radio operators since the invention of the radio and codes, there are freepers that were (and I assume are currently) combat radio operators.
No, it wasn’t unkind. It’s not directed at the Native American Indians - it’s directed at the people who pick and chose small groups of people who fought in the war.
What about our fine Pastry Chefs on the boats? What about the Pipe Fitters or the guys who keep the Torpedo tubes clean?
We are a nation, fighting under one cause. We build grand memorials to the AMERICANS who found and either gave their lives, their limbs or their time to defending our country. When we start celebrating INDIVIDUALS, we open up a can of worms that need never be opened.
What about a day for the Black service people? Now the Polyneaians? How about the Eskimo?
We are supposed to be a color-blind melting-pot. That is the stated goal - and when anyone (including one of the best presidents we have ever had) creates a special day for one group - we no longer are moving towards equality. It’s just one more thing that seperates us, instead of unifies us.
I’d feel the exact same way if a day was set aside for the Swedes who faught in a war, or the Norwegions, or the Germans, Czechs, Italians, Greek, Mexican, Cuban, African, or Martian.
We celebrate as a nation, that is what unifies us. When we honor one group over another - that seperates us; and that’s what the Democrats have been doing for decades.
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