Posted on 11/12/2011 4:31:20 PM PST by CedarDave
With gnarled fingers, Chester Nez reverently opened the small box his son Mike had fetched for him at their West Mesa home. Even at 90 years old, Nez’s face still beams as he proudly opens it.
Careful not to touch the gold medal, Nez shares a secret.
“On the other side it says, ‘We used our language to defeat the enemy,’ and that’s what we did,” he said.
Nez carefully puts the lid back on the box and hands it to his son for safekeeping. Inside is a Congressional Gold Medal — one of only 29 in existence — given to Nez by then-President George W. Bush during a White House ceremony July 26, 2001.
Five of the “original 29″ Navajo Code Talkers, the men who developed and implemented the code that confounded the Japanese during World War II and was never broken, received the medals that day.
In a moment that speaks to the reverence Nez holds for his country, instead of shaking the president’s hand after being handed the medal, he saluted Bush as his commander-in-chief.
When the ceremony took place, five of the “original 29″ were living. Today, only Nez remains.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
A good reference: “Code Talker,” written by Tijeras author Judith Schiess Avila, was released chronicling Nez’s life and the contributions of the Code Talkers to the war effort. Available at Amazon.com
Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
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Ever since Nick Cage’s movie about these guys (Windtalkers, I believe?), I had and have a whole new appreciation for the contribution they made as a group to the American fighting effort. Amazing men; God bless ‘em all.
Ping.
Navajo Code Talker Chester Nez, 90, poses at his home on Albuquerque’s West Mesa in this May 17 photo. He is the last living member of the U.S. Marine Corps 382nd Platoon, comprised of 29 Navajos who developed a secret code the Japanese were never able to decipher. (dean hanson/journal)Albuquerque Journal
I read the first chapter which is shown at the Amazon link. Very moving and vivid — it details the landing at Guadalcanal. Remember, these are the memories of a 90-year old GI 69 years after the landing. The author fact-checked them and you actually feel you are there experiencing.
Thank you Code Talker Nez for your many contributions and service to your country. God bless you and we hope you live to be 100 years old.
bflr
Windtalkers was one movie I almost went and asked for my money back.
???
Ahéhee’ bee’ak’ihojidlihii
In years past I’ve accompanied my World War II Marine uncle to Marine Corps League events in the Four Corners area and have been priveledged to meet a few of the Navajo Code Talkers. I am honored to have met them.
The production values were pretty bad.
Shi’chii ahe’hee. I can’t know what he endured in battle but I understand the worlds he crossed and taboos violated. I am proud to be born of Navajo.
Had the great pleasure of interviewing all five a couple days after the White House ceremony. Chester, though, was whom I’ve had the most contact with over the years, and I’m glad to see he’s still around, but it looks like the last couple have been hard on him.
He’d be the first to remind anyone and everyone that he may be the last of the original 29 code talkers, but he is not the last one.
It blew.
do you think there will ever be congressional gold medals for the math geeks that developed the current set of ciphers? the software geeks that implemented them?
hardly.
unless they happen to not be white male
Your kinsmen provided a heroic service to our country. I’m sorry it took so long to recognize them but at last they are receiving some. I hope that like Chester’s their story can be recorded before they pass on.
I came across this website that is raising funds for a museum which I presume will be located at Window Rock.
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