Navajo Code Talkers to be in veterans parade

[unhappycamper]

Navajo Code Talkers to be in veterans parade
ULA ILNYTZKY - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 10, 2009 10:54:20 EST

NEW YORK — The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.

Only about 50 of the 400 Code Talkers are believed to be still alive, most living in the Navajo Nation reservation that spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Many are frail or ill, with little time left to tell the world about their wartime contribution.

But on Wednesday, 13 of the Code Talkers are coming to New York City to participate for the first time in the nation’s largest Veterans Day parade.

The young Navajo Marines, using secret Navajo language-encrypted military terms, helped the U.S. prevail at Iwo Jima and other World War II Pacific battles, serving in every Marine assault in the South Pacific between 1942-1945. Military commanders said the code, transmitted verbally by radio, helped save countless American lives and bring a speedier end to the war in the Pacific theater.

They were sworn to secrecy about their code, so complex that even other Navajo Marines couldn’t decipher it. Used to transmit secret tactical messages via radio or telephone, the code remained unbroken and classified for decades because of its potential postwar use.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_veteransday_code_talkers_111009/

[HillbillyBob]

1. It is about time they were honored

With out these brave souls WW2 could have gone very differently.

I saw the movie, I don't know how close to reality it was, but it was inspiring to see.