FReeper Canteen ~ Navajo Code Talkers Day, August 14 ~ 13 August 2020

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

Honoring A Hero ~ Chester Nez

The last of the living WWII heroes share their stories

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

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

August 13

A Great Work

Bible in a Year:

• Psalms 87–88
• Romans 13

“I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”

Nehemiah 6:3

The security guard found and removed a piece of tape that was keeping a door from clicking shut. Later, when he checked the door, he found it had been taped again. He called the police, who arrived and arrested five burglars.

Working at the Watergate building in Washington, DC, the headquarters of a major political party in the US, the young guard had just uncovered the biggest political scandal of his lifetime simply by taking his job seriously—and doing it well.

Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem—a task he took very seriously. Toward the end of the project, neighboring rivals asked him to meet with them in a nearby village. Under the guise of a friendly invitation was an insidious trap (Nehemiah 6:1–2). Yet Nehemiah’s response shows the depth of his conviction: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” (v. 3).

Although he certainly possessed some authority, Nehemiah may not have rated very high on the hero scale. He wasn’t a great warrior, not a poet or a prophet, not a king or a sage. He was a cupbearer-turned-contractor. Yet he believed he was doing something vital for God. May we take seriously what He’s given us to do and do it well in His power and provision.

By:  Glenn Packiam Reflect & Pray

What has God called you to do? Why is it important for you to take it seriously—seeing it as a great work?

Dear God, help me to believe that I’m doing a great work. I trust that You’ve called me to this in this season. Give me the focus to stay the course.

[PROCON]

Thanks for honoring these great Navajo Code Talkers, they were a phenomenal group of men who were instrumental to our Pacific victory and VJ Day!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

I was late because Edge struck again and rebooted. Had to start the thread set up again.

Well, we made it through hump day. Boy, am I glad.

Hope your week is going well. New truck ok?

[mountainlion]

Man those were some big radios to tote around the jungle.

[luvie]

Amazing heroes. I have such great respect for them and what they did to help us win the war.

[mylife]

Choctaw Bingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KB4dVMQfRE

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Navajo Code Talkers Day, August 14 ~

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies' military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

CLICK HERE TO FIND LATEST THREADS

CLICK FOR Current local times around the world

CLICK FOR local times in Seoul, Baghdad, Kabul,
New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Anchorage

To every service man or woman reading this thread.
Thank You for your service to our country.
No matter where you are stationed,
No matter what your job description
Know that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.
To our military readers, we remain steadfast
in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread
specifically designed to provide entertainment and moral support for the military.
The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001,
the day of the start of the war in Afghanistan.

We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

[DilJective]

As a Army retiree, I’m proud of these fine Americans, who helped win WW2. American Indians are some of the most patriotic Americans and very proud to serve. Upon moving to New Mexico, I’ve been fortunate to have met quite a few veterans from local tribes.

About a month ago, I met an Apache veteran here in Albuquerque, who told me about Code Talkers in WW1. I had no idea. They were initially Choctaw, but expanded to Cheyenne, Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, and Yankton Sioux.

Here are two links to more information about the Code Talkers in both World Wars that is fascinating.

https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/military/code-talkers.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_code_talkers#:~:text=The%20Choctaw%20code%20talkers%20were%20a%20group%20of,talkers%20ever%20to%20serve%20in%20the%20US%20military.

[mylife]

Ixapache “he who speaks loud saying nothing”

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro...they sure were instrumental in our victory. They so deserve our honoring them.

[mylife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nggqe-L9ZQ8

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!

I had the pleasure and honor of meeting one of the Code Talkers featured in the last video linked in the thread - Thomas Begay. A most humble man. I'll never forget that meeting. I don't think my feet touched the ground for a week. LOL

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion...any more protestors to be chased away? Any rain?

Those radios do look pretty big.

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Any sanity left? Were you able to get those dratted errors straightened out?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi there, luvie...just imagine how different things might have been without those brave code talker heroes.

God Bless them all!!

[luvie]

It would have taken much longer to win without their help to keep our secrets! Bless them!

[real saxophonist]

I never met any, but they were VITALLY important in the Pacific.

[metmom]

What a fascinating bit of US history.