FReeper Canteen ~ Navajo Code Talkers Day ~ 14 August 2013

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 Medal of Honor 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.

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.

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

[beachn4fun]

Good morning mountainlion

[PROCON]

Happy Humpday Beachie!!

We're a little warmer out here, but not scorching anymore. Getting ready for fall sports activities, football and soccer.

Coffee is not helping this morning..

Have a funomenal day!

[HiJinx]

Love those report requests! I have to make them occasionally. Your counterpart in our office is worth her weight in gold.

[luvie]

LOL! Cute! I think I’ve had to wait on that bunch! :)

[E.G.C.]

Well, Uncle Jack came by yesterday and we checked out the lawnmower that I have been using for the last several years.

A couple of things we found out was(1) the oil sometimes goes down with old engines and (2)You have to clean the filter which Jack did. It was kind of dirty. That may have been why I have been having such a hard time trying to start it.

In any event, I went ahead and did some lawnmowing yesterday. The yard looks much more clean this morning.

My brother from Texas is coming up soon for a visit. He's going to look for a brand new lawnmower for me.

We did get a little bit of rain early Tuesday morning. About a quarter to a half inch.

Also, installed this month's updates yesterday. 8 On the XP and 11 on the Windows 7.

[Fresh Wind]

Oh, I’m almost always here for fatima’s music threads!

[luvie]

Good morning, EGC! (((hugs)))

Very nice of your uncle to help you get your lawnmower back running, but it’ll still be nice to have a newer model. My hubby LOVES his self-propelled one. He doesn’t hate doing the mowing like he used to. It’s not as hard work. That’s a plus! :)

[luvie]

Gooood mornin', Early Birds!
Happy Hump Day!
We can almost see the weekend on top of this camel!
Hope all of you get your work done
and get home on time for some evening rest!
It's back to work for me today.
Not a bad day though...5 hours.
((((hugs))))

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Pro ((HUGS))

Enjoy the “pre” fall weather.

We’re watching the peewee’s practice at the school across from the house.

Have a wonderfully wonderous Wednesday.

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Jinxie ((HUGS))

Howz NanaJ?

Hmmm, I wouldn’t mind have my weight in gold :)

(I think the boss has finally shown up)

[MEG33]

Grin..Love your hump day post!
Hope you get home in time to take a nap!
;o)

[MEG33]

Hmmm That’s the second video this week that doesn’t show for me..I will ask my house helper/ computer helper guy what’s up with this!

[MEG33]

Happy mowing!

[Arrowhead1952]

Good morning LUV and (((HUGS))). Got to do some work in the yard for a while.

[beachn4fun]

fatima’s music threads!

of course you are. LOL
However by the time I get here there are over 200 posts so I don't get to see everyone. This is the first time I've "seen" you.

[beachn4fun]

ooohhh

mine

[beachn4fun]

ooohhh

mine

[beachn4fun]

ooohhh

mine

[beachn4fun]

ooohhh

mine

[beachn4fun]

ooohhh

mine