HEROES OF THE NAVAJO NATION ARE HONORED ON THE “NATIONAL CODETALKERS DAY”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC – August 14, 2009 – The fight of the US against the Empire of Japan in the Pacific theater of the World War II was spearheaded by unsung heroes from the Diné Bikéyah (the Navajo Nation). Their “TOP SECRET” mission was declassified only in 1968.

In May 1942, the United States Marines recruited Navajos to join them, using Navajo code-talking for secret communications. The Japanese forces could never decipher the messages or break the code used by the Navajo Code Talkers. The code was created by translating Navajo words into English, then using the first letter of each English word to convey the meaning. The code was especially difficult to decipher because different Navajo words might be translated into different English words for the same letter. For example, for the letter "A," the Code Talker could use "wol-la-chee" (ant), "be-la-sana," (apple), or "tse-nill" (ax). New code words were assigned for the military terms that had no equivalent in the Navajo language. For example, the word “America” would translate as "Ne-he-mah" (Our mother), the expression to describe a submarine was "besh-lo" (iron fish).

Military commanders credited the Code with having saved the lives of countless American soldiers, ensuring successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. USMC 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 were never able to break the code, in spite of their unparalleled ability to decipher other secret codes. Chief of Intelligence for the Japanese empire, Lieutenant General Seizo Arisue, stated they could never break the code used by the Marine Navajo Codetalkers, while successfully breaking the codes for the US Army and Air Corp.
Film producer BJ Davis is developing the Navajo Global Media (NGM) project for the Navajo Nation with President Joe Shirley, Jr. They’re jointly planning a documentary that will detail the lives and contributions of the Codetalkers, whose Navajo spirit catapulted them to honorably serve in the United States military, in spite of the fact that none of them were obligated to fight or were even drafted. They were compelled to serve as warriors, which is the foundation of the Navajo Nation.

President Shirley, Jr., Chief of Staff Patrick Sandoval, Arizona State Representative Cloves Campbell, Starwood’s VP of Global Finance Eddie Tantoco and Producer/Director BJ Davis have been working towards honoring the last two original surviving Codetalkers with the Medal of Honor. Screenwriter Julia Davis wrote and created the original television series, “Medal of Honor”, with contributions from Gregory Crosby, grandson of Hollywood icon Bing Crosby. The series about American heroes from all walks of life was hosted by Academy Award nominee Burt Reynolds. In his narration of the powerful documentary, Burt utters the prolific words, “America - it would not be the land of the free if it weren’t the home of the brave.”

As the American flag was raised at Iwo Jima, Navajo Codetalkers reported the military success of the US, immortalizing their important role in American history.

Source: http://www.NewsfeedUnlimited.com

BJ Davis     Cloves Campbell     codetalkers     Eddie Tantoco     Joe Shirley     Julia Davis     Navajo