One of original Navajo Code Talkers dies in Ariz.

[OmahaBlueDog]

Source: Associated Press (Via Yahoo News)

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Allen Dale June, one of the 29 original Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, has died. He was 91.

June died of natural causes Wednesday night at a veterans hospital in Prescott, his wife, Virginia, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

His health had been failing since earlier this year when he was hospitalized for a urinary tract infection and kidney failure because he wasn't drinking enough water, his wife said. He was hospitalized again two months ago after visiting family on the Navajo Nation and was transferred from a Flagstaff hospital to Prescott, where he was under round-the-clock care.

The Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They sent thousands of messages without error on Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics and other communications critical to the war's ultimate outcome.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_code_talker

[gateley]

1. I thank him for his service. May he rest in peace. nt

[BrklynLiberal]

2. a hero has fallen R.I.P. Allen Dale June

[Odin2005]

3. RIP, soldier! You did good.

:patriot:

[nyy1998]

4. RIP Allen June

And thank you for your (sometimes underappreciated) service to your country.

[sakabatou]

5. At ease, brave soldier.

[madmax]

6. RIP Soldier - you earned it.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. R.I.P.

Sir. It was brave men like you who helped protect my father and his colleagues in the South Pacific during WWII so they could return home alive.

May your spirit soar.

[rug]

8. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. I still marvel at how clever a tactic this was.

[CountAllVotes]

9. with the death of Allen Dale June died the Code Talking

Few know about the reality of the Code Talkers. They were not speaking "Navajo". They were speaking a language used in hunting rituals. Few Navajos know how to speak the "Code Talk" today.

My late father was in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific and he told me all about the Code Talkers. He said that no one knew what they were saying, not even the Navajos. I never understood this until I discovered that Code Talk is an ancient language.

I hope that the Code Talk has not died with Allen Dale June.

May this WWII hero RIP. :patriot:

:dem: :kick: & recommend.

[Poll_Blind]

10. That's amazing- I didn't know that twist on it. Thanks for posting! n/t

PB

[CountAllVotes]

11. yes, there is a film about it

It is an old film made about the Code Talkers (I have it on a VHS tape). The U.S. government went to the Navajo reservation and basically snatched up the young men there that knew the "Code Talk". Many of the young men (some were as young as 14 or 15 years old) did not know the "Talk" but were taken away from their homes anyway.

When the Navajos that did not know the how to speak the "Talk" and were captured by the Japanese they were tortured to reveal the "Code Talk". Being most of the Navajos didn't know it, they were very helpless and tortured needlessly and those that lived through it had severe PTSD.

After WWII was over, these same Navajos, ones that knew the talk and others that did not, returned to the reservation and got nothing from the U.S. Government as far as housing assistance, etc. goes. Very sad IMO that these war heroes were almost completely forgotten and never compensated in any way.

The few, the proud, the Marines. Yes, I know all about this indeed as my late father was one of them. He had great respect for the Code Talkers which is saying a lot for a man from his generation.

May all of these great men, including my late father, RIP.

:kick:

[Soylent Brice]

12. .

K&R

[rabs]

13. Some of the words the Code Talkers used

Because their language did not have terms for military expressions, they used words for birds and other animals they grew up with on their Navajo nation.

For example they had no word for a tank so it became

TANK CHAY-DA-GAHI TORTOISE
TANK DESTROYER CHAY-DA-GAHI-NAIL-TSAIDI TORTOISE KILLER

NAMES OF AIRPLANES
PLANES WO-TAH-DE-NE-IH AIR FORCE
DIVE BOMBER GINI CHICKEN HAWK
TORPEDO PLANE TAS-CHIZZIE SWALLOW
OBS. PLAN NE-AS-JAH OWL
FIGHTER PLANE DA-HE-TIH-HI HUMMING BIRD
BOMBER PLANE JAY-SHO BUZZARD
PATROL PLANE GA-GIH CROW
TRANSPORT ATSAH EAGLE

NAMES OF SHIPS
SHIPS TOH-DINEH-IH SEA FORCE
BATTLESHIP LO-TSO WHALE
AIRCRAFT TSIDI-MOFFA-YE-HI BIRD CARRIER
SUBMARINE BESH-LO IRON FISH
MINE SWEEPER CHA BEAVER
DESTROYER CA-LO SHARK
TRANSPORT DINEH-NAY-YE-HI MAN CARRIER
CRUISER LO-TSO-YAZZIE SMALL WHALE
MOSQUITO BOAT TSE-E MOSQUITO

Long list of words here:

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm

[CountAllVotes]

19. thanks for posting this!

:thumbsup:

It makes me very sad to see how the genocide of a people has worked so very well. May they all rest in peace! :cry:

:kick:

[Downwinder]

14. It is sort of fitting that this is an Arizona story, where they are

trying to stomp out any language other than English.

[Downwinder]

15. Will the Code Talkers be included in Arizona history books after

the books are ethnically cleansed?

[MadMaddie]

17. Probably not

The natives will only be referred to as savages that needed rescuing by Christian settlers to become civilized....what? that's what the Repugs have done and will continue to do.

These men were vital to the war effort during WWII may they all RIP!!

[Downwinder]

18. I don't think there any Yavapai speakers any more.

The Code Talkers are a testament to the value of diversity.

[ProudDad]

16. They shouldn't have allowed him to watch

jan brewer's massive brain fart last week...