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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Recipients
Navajo Code Talkers
Native American Pride and Accomplishment - Courage Under Fire
"Japan's own chief of intelligence admitted there was one code they were
never able to breakthe Navajo code used by the Marine Corps."
The Congressional medals were designed and struck by the United States Mint. The front of the medal features two Marine Navajo Code Talkers communicating a radio message.
The reverse bears the Navajo Code Talkers emblem, with "USMC", the Marine Corps emblem, and "WWII" centered along the top of the medal. Centered along the bottom is the inscription "Dine Bizaad Yee Atah Naayee' Yik'eh Deesdlii" - meaning "The Navajo Language Was Used to Defeat the Enemy."
President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal
to Navajo code talkers on July 26, 2001. (White House Photo Office) Bush Presents Congressional Gold Medals to the Navajo Code Talkers By Butler T. Gray
Washington File Staff Writer (
Native Americans get awards for codes used in World War II) President Bush presented the
Congressional Gold Medal July 26 to four of the five living original 29
Navajo "Code Talkers," and to relatives of the other 24 Native Americans who developed a series of encrypted messages in the Navajo language that were never broken by the Japanese and helped the United States win World War II. "Today we give these exceptional Marines the recognition they earned so long ago," Bush said in remarks in the Capitol Rotunda. Bush said the "Code Talkers" brought honor to the United States as well as to the Navajo nation. "
Native Americans have served with the modesty and strength and quiet valor their tradition has always inspired," the President said. "That tradition found full expression in the code talkers, in those absent, and in those with us today. "Gentlemen, your service inspires the respect and admiration of all Americans, and our gratitude is expressed for all time in the medals it is now my honor to present." The code talkers were U.S. Marines who spoke in the
American Indian language of Navajo, a tongue that Japanese code breakers were never able to decipher. The Navajo code was so successful and valued by the United States that some code talkers were guarded by fellow Marines whose role was to kill them in case of imminent capture by the enemy, according to the U.S. Marines. Bill Clinton, less than a month before he left the White House, signed a bill on December 21, 2000 to grant the Congressional Gold Medals to the original 29 "Code Talkers" and Silver Medals to about 300 Navajo soldiers who followed them to the Pacific Theater during the war. The Navajo language had only been orally handed down through the centuries. In 1942 it was estimated that only 30 non-Navajos were fluent in the language and none of these were Japanese. This oral teaching of the language didn't change for the new recruits. In May 1942 twenty-nine Navajos entered boot camp and later went to Camp Pendleton to develop the actual code. They worked at finding new words or meaning for military terms, which had no actual Navajo translation as well as an alphabetical way of spelling out other words. Each code talker would be required to memorize the entire code. No codebooks or written aids would be allowed. As each code talker completed his training, he would be shipped to a Marine unit in the Pacific. Eventually there would be over 400 Marine code talkers who would play a vital part in the United States winning the war against Japan. In fact, these code talkers would participate in every assault the Marines took part in from late 1942 to 1945. It has been said that battles such as Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Peleliu would have had a different outcome if not for the Navajo code talkers. The code talkers were a large part of the U.S. victory in capturing the Japanese island of Okinawa, according to Chuck Melson, chief historian for the U.S. Marine Corps. Despite having books written about them, a national day in their honor, a statue in downtown Phoenix and a museum in New Mexico that pay tribute to them, the men were never honored individually by the government. "It wasn't until 1968 that it was declassified, that they were allowed to talk about it as other than a state secret. So I think that gave them an added burden that maybe their compatriots didn't carry with them," Melson said. "They really weren't given any special recognition," he said. "Most of them I don't think wanted special recognition, other than that they had done their duty and they had survived, because there were a lot of people that they knew who did not survive." "This is all very appropriate," said Martin Link, curator of the Navajo Code Talker Museum in Gallup, New Mexico. "They didn't win the war for the United States, but they certainly played a key role and this is a nice way of saying thank you." Thomas Begay, 74, a code talker in the U.S. Marines 5th Division on Iwo Jima, said he helped craft many of the encrypted codes used on Iwo Jima and was in the process of devising others to be used in an invasion of Japan before two atomic bombs were dropped, ending the war. Senator Jeff Bingaman (Democrat-New Mexico) said he was glad the White House and Congress were honoring the code talkers. "This was a chapter of our military history that has not been given sufficient attention, and there are some real genuine heroes here who deserve recognition," he said. According to Bingaman's office, the code talkers transmitted more than 800 error-free messages during the first two days of the battle for Iwo Jima that were key in taking out many Japanese artillery and machine-gun positions and monitoring troop movements. During the three years the Navajo code talkers participated in the war, Japanese Intelligence was able to break almost every U.S. Army and Army Air Corps code but not once were they able to break the Navajo code. Academy Award winning actor Nicholas Cage, who stars in the upcoming film '
Windtalkers,' about the Navajo code talkers was in attendance for the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda July 26. Cage said he certainly doesn't think the "Code Talkers" received the glory they deserve. "I think it's overdue. I am glad this is happening," said Cage during a CNN interview. "I think it's important to recognize the bravery of the men that were involved, and most people don't know that Navajo Native Americans were actually Marines and fought alongside us."
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN A CEREMONY HONORING THE NAVAJO CODE TALKERS Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release Jun 26, 2001
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Today, America honors 21
Native Americans who, in a desperate hour, gave their country a service only they could give. In war, using their native language, they relayed secret messages that turned the course of battle. At home, they carried for decades the secret of their own heroism. Today, we give these exceptional Marines the recognition they earned so long ago.
I want to thank the Congress for inviting me here, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Senators Campbell, Bingaman and Johnson and Congressman Udall for their leadership. I want to thank Sergeant Major McMichael, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Washington, D.C.
The gentlemen with us, John Brown, Chester Nez, Lloyd Oliver, Allen Dale June and Joe Palmer, represented by his son Kermit, are the last of the original Navajo Code Talkers. In presenting gold medals to each of them, the Congress recognizes their individual service, bravely offered and flawlessly performed.
With silver medals, we also honor the dozens more who served later, with the same courage and distinction. And with all these honors, America pays tribute to the tradition and community that produced such men, the great Navajo Nation. The paintings in this rotunda tell of America and its rise as a nation. Among them are images of the first Europeans to reach the coast, and the first explorer to come upon the Mississippi.
But before all these firsts on this continent, there were the first people. They are depicted in the background, as if extras in the story. Yet, their own presence here in America predates all human record. Before others arrived, the story was theirs alone.
Today we mark a moment of shared history and shared victory. We recall a story that all Americans can celebrate, and every American should know. It is a story of ancient people, called to serve in a modern war. It is a story of one unbreakable oral code of the Second World War, messages traveling by field radio on Iwo Jima in the very language heard across the Colorado plateau centuries ago.
Above all, it's a story of young Navajos who brought honor to their nation and victory to their country. Some of the Code Talkers were very young, like Albert Smith, who joined the Marines at 15. In order to enlist, he said, I had to advance my age a little bit. At least one code talker was over-age, so he claimed to be younger in order to serve. On active duty, their value was so great, and their order so sensitive, that they were closely guarded. By war's end, some 400 Navajos had served as Code Talkers. Thirteen were killed in action, and their names, too, are on today's roll of honor.
Regardless of circumstances, regardless of history, they came forward to serve America. The Navajo code itself provides a part of the reason. Late in his life, Albert Smith explained, the code word for America was, "Our Mother." Our Mother stood for freedom, our religion, our ways of life, and that's why we went in. The Code Talkers joined 44,000
Native Americans who wore the uniform in World War II. More than 12,000 Native Americans fought in World War I. Thousands more served in
Korea,
Vietnam and serve to this very day.
Twenty-four Native Americans have earned the highest military distinction of all, the
Medal of Honor, including
Ernest Childers, who was my guest at the White House last week. In all these wars and conflicts, Native Americans have served with the modesty and strength and quiet valor their tradition has always inspired.
That tradition found full expression in the Code Talkers, in those absent, and in those with us today. Gentlemen, your service inspires the respect and admiration of all Americans, and our gratitude is expressed for all time, in the medals it is now my honor to present.
May God bless you all.
(The medals are presented.)
END
May 1942: The first 29 Navajo recruits attend boot camp at Camp Elliott in San Diego, California.
August 1942: Twenty-seven of the original 29 code talkers land on Guadalcanal where they use the code on a limited basis.
September 1942: Navajo Code Talkers Program is established at Camp Pendleton near San Diego.
1942 - 1945: Navajo Code Talkers participate in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in territories including Guadalcanal, Guam, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Peleliu, Saipan, Bougainville, and Tarawa. They serve in all six Marine divisions, Marine raider battalions, and Marine parachute units.
June 15, 1945:
Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary is revised.
1968: The Code is declassified under Department of Defense Directive 5200.9.
August 14, 1982: President Ronald Reagan designates this day as National Code Talkers' Day.
September 17, 1992: The Pentagon honors Navajo Code Talkers with the dedication of the
Pentagon exhibit established in their honor.
April 2000: Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduces legislation authorizing the President of the United States to award
Congressional Gold Medals to the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers and Silver medals to all the other men subsequently classified as Navajo Code Talkers under Marine Corps Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) 642.
December 21, 2000: The bill authorizing the Congressional Gold and Silver Medals honoring the Navajo Code Talkers is signed into law
(PL 106-544).
July 26, 2001: President George W. Bush presents the Congressional Gold Medal to Navajo Code Talkers. Sources: Eberhart, Dave, Stars and Stripes, "Navajo Code Talkers to Receive Medals," 30 January 2001. Kawano, Kenji. Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Pub. Co., 1990. Kukral, L.C., Navy and Marine Corps World War II Commemorative Committee, Navy Chief of Information Office, "The Navajo Code Talkers," Navy Department Library, Reference Section, History and Museums Division, HQMC. "Navajo Code Talkers in World War II." 14 May 1982. 2 pp. USMC. Navajo Dictionary. 15 June 1945.
Please visit additional Federal Government sites on the Navajo Code Talkers.
http://www.nsa.gov/museum/talkers.html
Description: Nat'l Security Agency's Code Talkers' Museum Exhibit
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pentagon/virtual.html
Description: Take a virtual Pentagon tour which includes the Navajo Code Talkers exhibit.
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