Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers: A Legacy of Valor and Sacrifice
!role~Preview!mt~photo!fmt~JPEG%20Baseline)
During World War II, the Marine Corps recruited hundreds of Navajos to develop a code using their native language, which proved crucial in U.S. victories in the Pacific War. President Ronald Reagan designated Aug. 14 as the day to honor the Navajo Code Talkers and Native Americans who served in the war. Thomas H. Begay, one of the last two remaining Code Talkers, will be present at the event in Phoenix to commemorate the day. The Code Talkers, over 400 Navajo men, transmitted secret messages that helped save Allied soldiers' lives during the war. The program was classified until 1968, and efforts to recognize their contributions began in the early 1970s. President Nixon and Reagan acknowledged the Code Talkers' vital role, and other tribes also used their languages as battlefield codes in the two world wars. The Defense Department mistakenly removed pages honoring the Navajo Code Talkers, but they were later restored. Plans are underway to establish a museum in Farmington, New Mexico, to honor the Code Talkers' legacy.