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Code Talker Passes in New Mexico
KOB4 ^ | October 10, 2017

Posted on 10/10/2017 12:38:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway

A Navajo Code Talker has died in New Mexico.

David Patterson Sr. served during World War Two and used the Navajo language as a communications code that was never broken.

Patterson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

His service will be held in Shiprock, New Mexico on Thursday. Patterson was 94 years old.


TOPICS: History; Local News; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: navajo; newmexico; worldwarii
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To: gaijin

They also developed a three-deep code for the phonetic alphabet. For each Roman letter, they chose an English word, like A=Armadillo. Then they used the Navajo word for “armadillo” to represent A. They made three versions of this. Then they chose code words to indicate which version was in play in a certain transmission, and sometimes they’d change mid-message.

It wasn’t just that the Navajo language was unwritten, unknown, and incredibly difficult: they also put some serious work into making a real code. In the European theater, some Native American soldiers used their tribal languages on a more ad-hoc basis. A Comanche Code Talker from the 45th Infantry spoke to our homeschool group in Norman, OK, back in the late 90s.


21 posted on 10/10/2017 4:25:14 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Tax-chick

That post was VERY informative-——and amazed me.

.


22 posted on 10/10/2017 4:27:13 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

There’s a detailed discussion of the code in a book we have, but I can’t find it right now. (A kid broke a bookcase, so we have books in piles ;-)

This page has a good description, very similar to what’s in the book. It might even be the same report:

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/navajo-code-talkers/


23 posted on 10/10/2017 4:34:53 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Tax-chick

Thanks,I will check that out-—a fascinating subject.

(I won’t even ask how a kid could break a bookcase.)

:-)

.


24 posted on 10/10/2017 4:39:14 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

The shelves are held up by little pegs attached to the side walls. The kid (quite a hefty kid, too) was climbing up the shelves to get at some Lego his brother had put on top of the bookcase.


25 posted on 10/10/2017 4:41:58 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Tax-chick

Oh Lordy,thank heaven he wasn’t hurt.

.


26 posted on 10/10/2017 4:53:27 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

If the case had fallen down, it would have hit a lizard cage before it crushed Frank (who is 8, and probably can’t be crushed by anything short of a garbage truck. Of course, there would have been glass and blood everywhere ...

He cut his finger in the kitchen the other day, and it looked like we’d butchered a chicken. The treatment was two minutes of direct pressure and a half-inch bandaid.


27 posted on 10/10/2017 4:56:54 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: piasa
They weren’t even considered citizens of the US yet when they were called on to serve against Germany.

Well, the Indian Citizenship Act making Indian people U.S. citizens became effective June 2, 1924.
28 posted on 10/10/2017 4:57:00 PM PDT by righttackle44 (Take scalps. Leave the bodies as a warning.)
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To: Tax-chick

Is your son a bleeder? {I forget the medical name.)

A couple of my grandkids are,but no problems, and they are young adults now.

.


29 posted on 10/10/2017 5:03:19 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

Hemophiliac? No, he’s had plenty of injuries with no dangerous bleeding. I don’t know how he managed to spatter the whole kitchen ... just luck, I guess. By the time a brother brought a bandaid, Frank had forgotten about being frightened and was impressed with the mess he’d made.

Boys are something ...


30 posted on 10/10/2017 5:05:25 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Tax-chick

No,not hemophilia—— I texted my daughter——it is called von Willebrand’s didease,and not that rare.

.


31 posted on 10/10/2017 5:14:53 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Mears

Haven’t heard of that. His various injuries have always clotted quickly, and he doesn’t get nosebleeds like some of his siblings, so I don’t think he has blood issues.


32 posted on 10/10/2017 5:16:27 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Mears

No, definitely not. Wikipedia says it’s a clotting disorder, making it hard to stop bleeding, and we don’t have that.


33 posted on 10/10/2017 5:17:34 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Truth.)
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To: Professional

The Navajos are an interesting people. I’ve been to a few Navajo rodeos in Chinle, Tuba City, and Granado, which always begin with a salute to the flag and the National Anthem, leaving me impressed by their patriotism.


34 posted on 10/10/2017 5:48:13 PM PDT by PUGACHEV
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To: CedarDave
Thanks for the ping.

My grandfather (who worked at Santa Fe Indian School from about 1928 to 1960) knew a lot of the 'code talkers', and was good friends with one of the first of them, Dooley Shorty. I have a couple of pieces of jewelery Dooley made in his later career.

35 posted on 10/10/2017 8:32:10 PM PDT by LegendHasIt
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To: PUGACHEV

It was Tuba City where I picked Harry up.

When I dropped him off, he asked if I had a bottle of water. I replied that I only had beer or Gatorade.

He asked if he could have a beer. I said sure, have two.

And off to Sedona I continued on my west coast trip this last spring with my two Husqvarna dirt bikes...


36 posted on 10/11/2017 11:04:37 AM PDT by Professional
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To: Professional

In Tuba City the boundary between the Navajo and Hopi reservations runs down the center of town. Hopis observe daylight savings time, while Navajos do not, making you either an hour late or an hour early for most occasions.


37 posted on 10/11/2017 3:50:09 PM PDT by PUGACHEV
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