WWII Navajo Code Talkers Honored

[R. A. Hettinga]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011124/us/code_talkers_honored_2.html

WWII Navajo Code Talkers Honored

By ANGELA TURNER, Associated Press Writer

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) - Navajo Code Talkers, whose code based on their
native tongue was never cracked by the Japanese during World War II, were
honored Saturday in a ceremony that many said was long overdue.

Thousands of people watched as more than 300 Congressional Silver Medals
were presented to the surviving Code Talkers.

The Code Talkers were honored for a code that, indecipherable by the
Japanese, was credited with saving thousands of lives and turning the tide
of decisive battles in the Pacific.

``It feels great,'' 76-year-old Samuel Smith said after receiving his
medal. ``I think I finally became an American.''

Smith, of San Fidel, N.M., said he didn't ask for the job or the award.

``I'm proud to have done what I did,'' he said.

The initial 29 Code Talkers who created the code were honored with
Congressional Gold Medals last summer in Washington. Those honored Saturday
joined the group later in the war.

``From this day forward we will continue to remember the courage and
sacrifice of the Navajo Code Talkers,'' said Navajo Nation President Kelsey
Begay.

The complex Navajo language was little known outside the Southwest, and the
Code Talkers added word substitutions. For example, a colonel became
``silver eagle,'' which was translated into Navajo as
``ataah-besh-le-gai.'' A submarine became ``besh-lo,'' Navajo for ``iron
fish,'' and a bomber was ``jay-sho,'' or buzzard in Navajo.

The Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy about their roles in the war. It
wasn't until 1968 that the government declassified the project.



-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'



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