The Navajo Code Talkers

Opening

Grenades explode in the distance and machine guns go off. Huddling in a small space with a radio strapped to his back, a Navajo Code Talker waits until he sees a good time to go back into action. As the Code Talker runs out from the fox hole, he looks back towards the ocean where one of his fellow Code Talkers died. He brings his eyes back to the front and hides again; his fellow Marines help him shoot the Japanese who are firing at them. The Code Talker goes to take cover once again, but a Japanese soldier catches him off guard and he quickly grabs his rifle.

As the Japanese solider came up to the young Code Talker, he raised his gun to the frightened face. Before he got to shoot it, however, the solider fell forward and the Code Talker was saved by a fellow Marine. The Marine smiled at him and they continued to the small hut for shelter. “What are you doing there?” his fellow Marine asked the Code Talker. “What do you mean?” he replied. “Don’t sit there, you’ll get shot.” As the two young Marines crouched and switched places, the young Marine that saved him sat down and said, “You never sit where you can be seen, you’re an easy target and you’re valuable to us, we need you.” The Code Talker nodded and as he started to transmit his message from English into Navajo, the young Marine sitting next to him slouched over, blood dripping out of the back of his helmet. He had been shot by a sniper. That should have been me, I was sitting there. That bullet was meant for me, the young Code Talker thought to himself. However, the Code Talker had no time to mourn, he had to use his Native tongue to transmit the enemy’s coordinates. His message got through and could not be decoded by the Japanese. As a result, a successful assault was launched and the Code Talker was able to save hundreds of his fellow soldiers that day.

 Many years later, that once young Code Talker died of old age. However, his great grandchildren never learned about the Navajo Code Talkers in school. He did his best to teach his great grandkids about what had happened, even telling them about his history, and the day that the President had specifically dedicated to honoring the Navajo Code Talkers. “Why isn’t the National Navajo Code Talkers Day on the calendar or this history taught in schools?” one of his great grandkids asked. The old Code Talker shrugged and sighed. One wish of his was that his great grandchildren, and those after them, along with many other children around the world, would know about Native American history, would understand the contributions and sacrifices made by the Navajo soldiers, and would learn of the National Navajo Code Talkers Day. The Navajo Code Talkers are greatly unknown and underappreciated even though they helped us win WWII. Therefore, they need to be respected, honored and remembered by being discussed in schools. Additionally, the National Navajo Code Talkers Day needs to be put on the national calendar.

 In order to truly appreciate the Navajo Code Talkers contributions, it is important to understand how Native people were treated in the 20th century and before. Before Christopher Columbus, the Anglo-Saxons, the Spaniards, and everyone else, the Native Americans populated the land known as the United States. There were about 500 different Native American languages (“Protecting”).