FReeper Canteen ~ August 14th…National Navajo Code Talkers Day! ~ 14 August 2023

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[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.

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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.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ~ Code Talkers

[lightman]

Thank you for remembering their great service!

[PROCON]

Thanks for tonight's Canteen, Kathy!

Indeed the Navajo Code Talkers were incredible patriots who were instrumental in helping us win WWII, Well Done, Men, we honor you!

[SkyDancer]

~ Evening All! ~

~

~ Welcome To My World ~

I’m Down There Somewhere

[The Mayor]

August 14

Lonely, but Not Forgotten

Bible in a Year:

• Psalms 89–90
• Romans 14

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Genesis 40:23

When you listen to their stories, it becomes clear that perhaps the most difficult part of being a prisoner is isolation and loneliness. In fact, one study revealed that regardless of the length of their incarceration, most prisoners receive only two visits from friends or loved ones during their time behind bars. Loneliness is a constant reality.

It’s a pain I imagine Joseph felt as he sat in prison, unjustly accused of a crime. There had been a glimmer of hope. God helped Joseph correctly interpret a dream from a fellow inmate who happened to be a trusted servant of Pharaoh. Joseph told the man he would be restored to his position and asked the man to mention him to Pharaoh so Joseph could gain his freedom (Genesis 40:14). But the man “did not remember Joseph; he forgot him” (v. 23). For two more years, Joseph waited. In those years of waiting, without any sign that his circumstances would change, Joseph was never completely alone because God was with him. Eventually, the servant of Pharaoh remembered his promise and Joseph was released after correctly interpreting another dream (41:9–14).

Regardless of circumstances that make us feel we’ve been forgotten, and the feelings of loneliness that creep in, we can cling to God’s reassuring promise to His children: “I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15).

By:  Lisa M. Samra .

Reflect & Pray

When have you experienced the pain of being forgotten? How does the reminder of God’s constant presence provide comfort?

Heavenly Father, help me to reach out to You when I feel forgotten and remember that You’re always with me.

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ August 14th…National Navajo Code Talkers Day! ~

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[ansel12]

The unknown majority of Indian code talkers.

U.S Army Choctaw Codetalkers.
“” The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. Code talking, however, was pioneered by Choctaw Indians serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. These soldiers are referred to as Choctaw code talkers.

Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota Meskwaki, and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the U.S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.””

World War I

In France during World War I, the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, had a company of Indians who spoke 26 languages and dialects. Two Indian officers were selected to supervise a communications system staffed by 18 Choctaw. The team transmitted messages relating to troop movements and their own tactical plans in their native tongue. Soldiers from other tribes, including the Cheyenne, Comanche, Cherokee, Osage and Yankton Sioux also were enlisted to communicate as code talkers. Previous to their arrival in France, the Germans had broken every American code used, resulting in the deaths of many Soldiers. However, the Germans never broke the Indians’ “code,” and these Soldiers became affectionately known as “code talkers.”

World War II

During World War II, the Army used Indians in its signal communications operations in both the European and Pacific theaters of operations. Student code talkers were instructed in basic military communications techniques. The code talkers then developed their own words for military terms that never existed in their own native tongue. For instance, the world for “colonel” was translated to “silver eagle,” “fighter plane” became “hummingbird,” “minesweeper” became “beaver,” “half-track” became “race track,” and “pyrotechnic” became “fancy fire.”

The Army and Marine Corps used a group of 24 Navajo code talkers in the Pacific Theater, who fought in the many bloody island campaigns. In North Africa, eight Soldiers from the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa served as code talkers in the 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Division. In Europe, the 4th Signal Company, 4th Infantry Division, was assigned 17 Comanche code talkers. From the D-Day landings at Normandy in June 1944, to the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge, they kept the lines of communications secure.

Soldiers from other tribes, including the Kiowa, Winnebago, Chippewa, Creek, Seminole, Hopi, Lakota, Dakota, Menominee, Oneida, Pawnee, Sac, Fox and Choctaw served during the war. Some were killed and wounded and at least one was taken prisoner. As a testament to their professionalism, the enemy was never able to break the code talkers’ communications.

Many of the code talkers continued in their military careers, serving during the Korean and Vietnam wars.”

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, lightman...all the code talkers made a BIG difference.

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

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

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting a Code Talker several years ago and will never forget it. His name is Thomas Begay. The Library of Congress has archived videos of Code Talkers talking about their experiences and this link takes you to Mr. Begay's biography and video.

I'm so glad those men were finally allowed to be recognized for their bravery and amazing contribution to the war. It was a long time coming.

[Gay State Conservative]

I read that the code talkers’ code name for Hitler was “crazy white man”.Sounds like a bit of an understatement.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro...all the code talkers contributed mightily to winning. Recognition is due.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Janey...((HUGS))...did you have good weather for the parachute jumpers?

[Kathy in Alaska]

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

Hope you got some relaxing time in this weekend, and all your ducks are in a row for the coming week.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

lightman!!

1st!!

[mountainlion]

My uncle told me about the Code Talkers about 60 years ago. He was 10th Mountain Division, The good old days when patriotism meant something.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Pro!!

2nd!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Janey!!

3rd!!

[SkyDancer]

Evening Kathy! (((HUGS))) Absolutely gorgeous!! Lots of folks jumping all weekend. I’ll be ubering Mon-Wed different places.