Showing posts with label Code Talker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Code Talker. Show all posts

Friday, August 30, 2019

Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay survived WWII and PTSD

Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay wanted to be a gunner. Here's how he became a Code Talker


Arizona Republic
Shondiin Silversmith
Aug. 29, 2019

ONE OF THE LAST SURVIVING NAVAJO CODE TALKERS THOMAS H. BEGAY SHARES HIS STORY ABOUT HIS SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.
Ronald said his father suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder and has flashbacks of his time during his service at Iwo Jima. "It's still with him," Ronald said. "He still thinks about it."

Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay (right) before the start of the Navajo Nation Code Talkers Day parade on Aug. 14, 2018, at the Navajo Nation Fairgrounds in Window Rock. (Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)
About a month after the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay was flown to Pearl Harbor for a week. He wasn't told why and he didn't ask questions.

He was taken to the United State Naval base on Pearl Harbor with fellow Navajo Code Talker Wilson H. Price. Once they arrived, they met a Navy lieutenant at the communication center. He led Begay and Price to a round building filled with various vaults.

The vaults were opened. From inside, wagons full of paper were brought to the Code Talkers.

"It was all the messages sent (and received) on Iwo Jima," he said.
Begay said the lieutenant kept an eye on them and took notes of the entire process. After hundreds of messages, they were told the purpose of their task: to determine if there were any mistakes in any of the messages the Navajo Code Talkers sent and received throughout the Iwo Jima operation.

"800 messages we went through," Begay said. "There were no mistakes."
read it here

Monday, May 27, 2019

John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker passed away

WWII Code Talker and longtime NM lawmaker dies at 94


The Associated Press
By: Morgan Lee and Mary Hudetz
May 26, 2019
An unassuming appearance and manner belied Pinto's political determination that carried him through 42 years in the Legislature. Laurie Canepa, the senior librarian for the Legislative Council Service, said that made him the longest serving senator in state history.
In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo Democratic New Mexico state Sen. John Pinto talks about his career as a lawmaker on American Indian Day in the Legislature on in Santa Fe, N.M. (Morgan Lee/AP)


SANTA FE, N.M. — John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker in World War II who became one of the nation’s longest serving Native American elected officials as a New Mexico state senator, has died. He was 94.

Senate colleague Michael Padilla confirmed Pinto's death in Gallup on Friday after years of suffering from various illnesses that rarely kept him from his duties.

After serving as a Marine, Pinto was elected to the Senate in 1976 and represented a district that includes the Navajo Nation for more than four decades. The region is one of the poorest in the country.

"Words cannot express the sadness we feel for the loss of a great Diné warrior," said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, using the indigenous word for Navajo. "He dedicated his life to helping others."
read more here

Monday, August 14, 2017

Camp Pendleton National Navajo Code Talkers Day

On National Navajo Code Talkers Day, a look back at what started at Camp Pendleton
San Diego Union Tribune
Jeanette Steele
August 14, 2017
Navajo Code Talkers took part in every U.S. Marine Corps assault in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They transmitted messages by telephone and radio in their native language — a code the Japanese never broke. 

The idea came from Los Angeles resident Philip Johnston, a World War I veteran raised on a Navajo reservation as a missionary’s son. He took his concept to the Marines at Camp Elliot in San Diego, now Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. 

In May 1942, the first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp. Afterward, at Camp Pendleton, this group created the Navajo code for military terms. 
read more here

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Camp Pendleton Marines Honor Navajo Code Talkers

Navajo Code Talkers return to the Blue Diamond 
DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Demetrius Morgan
October 2, 2015
Major Gen. Daniel O’Donohue, commanding general, 1st Marine Division, pays respect to retired Navajo Code Talkers during a tour with the Navajo Nation aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 28, 2015. Navajo Code Talkers were first put into action during World War II in early 1942 to establish an undecipherable code which could be used in combat environments to communicate sensitive information. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Demetrius Morgan/RELEASED)
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Retired Marines who served as Navajo Code Talkers during World War II and members of the Navajo Nation visited the 1st Marine Division during a tour aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Sept. 28, 2015.

Marines with the division hosted a ceremony to honor the code talkers for their pivotal service World War II.

“It’s an honor to have you here today,” said Maj. Gen. Daniel O’Donohue, the commanding general of the division. “The Navajo nation provided a duty that no one else could at that time. You humble us by returning to the division. The sacrifices you made we can’t even imagine and your legacy and your spirit live on.”

Navajo Code Talkers were first put into action in early 1942 to establish an undecipherable code, which could be used in combat environments to communicate sensitive information.

The Navajo code was selected because of its difficulty and obscurity and was deciphered by enemies of that time. This allowed commanders to issue out commands securely in the heat of battle against the imperial Japanese enemies. The code remained secret until it was declassified in 1968.
read more here

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Redskins honor members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association

Redskins honor members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association
Washington Post
BY MIKE JONES
November 25, 2013
As a joint celebration of the NFL’s Salute to Service month and Native American Heritage month, the Washington Redskins recognized four members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association.

The code talkers were a group of Native American service members who transmitted secret communications beginning in World War II.

Four representatives — Navajo Code Talkers Association President Peter MacDonald Sr., Vice President Roy Hawthorne and members George James Sr. and George Boyd Willie Sr. — were recognized during a commercial break during the first quarter of the Redskins’ game vs. the San Francisco 49ers.
read more here

Great Video tribute to Code Talkers on Washington Redskin site and Twitter is fired up over this.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Congress honors American Indian code talkers

Congress honors American Indian code talkers
Boston.com
Henry C. Jackson
November 20, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — For decades, the wartime service of 96-year-old Edmond Harjo and other American Indian ‘‘code talkers’’ was something that wasn’t even officially acknowledged, let alone publically recognized.

But on Wednesday, Harjo sat in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall soaking in a standing ovation from hundreds of people — after an introduction from House Speaker John Boehner.

Harjo, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, is one of the last surviving members of a group of American Indians who used their native language to outwit the enemy and protect U.S. battlefield communications during World Wars I and II. In a ceremony Wednesday, congressional leaders formally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to American Indians known as code talkers honoring the service of 33 tribes.

From his seat, Lyle Cook watched the applause for Harjo and a procession of speeches proudly, with a lump in his throat.

Cook is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota. He said all he could think about were members of his tribe who served in World Wars I and II but didn’t live to receive the formal recognition that has been more than 70 years in coming.

‘‘It is wonderful, but it is a bittersweet moment,’’ said Cook, 52, an Army veteran. ‘‘I wish they were here.’’

Code talkers were represented Wednesday by tribal delegations, many in traditional dress, who packed Emancipation Hall. They represented 33 tribes from states including Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Members of American Indian tribes heroically exchanged sensitive military information by speaking to each other in their native tongues on the battlefield, eluding enemies trying to break U.S. military codes and dramatically speeding up the military’s ability to communicate.
read more here

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Point Man Ministries, PTSD Moral Code Talkers

Point Man Ministries, PTSD Moral Code Talkers
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 26, 2013


Last night during our weekly conference call on Skype, leaders of Point Man International Ministries had a discussion about the latest news centered on the "moral injury" and some "experts" acting as if it was not part of Combat PTSD. What stuns most of us is the fact that these same experts fail to comprehend the fact that Combat PTSD is different than other types of PTSD. Why? Because war fighters are not just survivors of the trauma, they participate in the event itself. Members of law enforcement are hit almost as hard by this type of PTSD simply because of the fact they also participate in the events with weapons. While there is always a spiritual connection between trauma and faith, experts have failed to notice.

Humans walk away after surviving a traumatic event either believing they were saved for a reason or God did it to them. When we're talking about the traumatic events of combat, it is the same process but when they are looking around at the carnage left behind, it is very hard to think that God is real when all of it was allowed to happen. How could a loving God let all that happen? Why did they survive but others did not? Their moral code is broken. Before PTSD hit, they knew what they were doing but above that, they knew why they were doing it. It wasn't about what people talked about, the need to send them into combat or the need to keep them there. The number one job of a war fighter is to end it. That's right. It is not to kill as many opponents as possible but it is to get them to stop fighting. It is not to take lives but to save the lives of the men they are with. It is not to take over another country but to preserve their own country.

Those are the reasons they are willing to die. Those are the reasons they are prepared to risk their lives for. Those are the reasons they keep going until as many as possible return home.

Jake Wood, a PTSD soldier from the UK said that "war made sense" because everyone was watching out for each other. They knew what they had to do and didn't think about the politics behind it. They were trying to do what they were sent to do. He talked about how it was a matter of being unselfish.

This "moral injury" or wound, has been known for generations. Lately it has been in the news, recorded by reporters with no knowledge of the history behind it.

Veterans' 'moral injuries' are wounds of the soul
Wars leave troops haunted by guilt, shame
Written by
PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press
Feb 23, 2013

WASHINGTON — A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo thinks of himself as a killer — and he carries the guilt every day.

“I can’t forgive myself,” he said. “And the people who can forgive me are dead.”

With American troops at war for more than a decade, there’s been an unprecedented number of studies into war zone psychology and an evolving understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clinicians suspect some troops are suffering from what they call “moral injuries” — wounds from having done something, or failed to stop something, that violates their moral code.
read more here


Frankly after almost 30 years of taking care of the spiritual aspect of PTSD, this "news" has left us stunned. How is it possible that "experts" are now paying attention to this as if it is new? How much else have they gotten wrong on Combat PTSD? We knew it hit the emotional part of the brain where most believe the soul lives but "experts" never think about what goes into being "human" anymore than they think about what makes them "who" they are inside.

Members of Point Man International Ministries have been "moral code talkers" all this time and finally now, mental health "professionals" are looking at what we've known all along.

Moral
adjective
1.of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.
2.expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work.
3.founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom: moral obligations.
4.capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct: a moral being.
5.conforming to the rules of right conduct ( opposed to immoral ): a moral man.
Code
noun
1.a system for communication by telegraph, heliograph, etc., in which long and short sounds, light flashes, etc., are used to symbolize the content of a message: Morse code.
2.a system used for brevity or secrecy of communication, in which arbitrarily chosen words, letters, or symbols are assigned definite meanings.
3.any set of standards set forth and enforced by a local government agency for the protection of public safety, health, etc., as in the structural safety of buildings (building code) health requirements for plumbing, ventilation, etc. (sanitary or health code) and the specifications for fire escapes or exits (fire code)
4.a systematically arranged collection or compendium of laws, rules, or regulations.
5.any authoritative, general, systematic, and written statement of the legal rules and principles applicable in a given legal order to one or more broad areas of life.


It is as if this is all a foreign language to the "experts" much like the Navajo language was so foreign that no one could break their code.
Navajo Code talkers
They were a small band of warriors who created an unbreakable code from the ancient language of their people and changed the course of modern history.
KNOWN AS NAVAJO CODE TALKERS, they were young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these modest sheepherders and farmers were able to fashion the most ingenious and successful code in military history. They drew upon their proud warrior tradition to brave the dense jungles of Guadalcanal and the exposed beachheads of Iwo Jima. Serving with distinction in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942-1945, their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end.


They understood each other but no one else could. We understand the code of the soul but few others do. Until more understand, the troops and veterans are doomed to treatments and medications that numb them instead of heal them like the latest from the Navy "The procedure is meant to numb nerves in the neck that can cause physical arousal and therefore allow patients to feel more calm and decrease the symptoms of PTSD."

We will keep seeing a rise in military suicides and attempted suicides until the "experts" actually learn what has been know all these years.

There are many things that keep getting missed when we talk about Combat and PTSD. This is to clear up the biggest one of all. What is courage and how does it link to being "mentally tough" so that you can push past what you were told about "resiliency" training. Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare of Wounded Times Blog tries to explain this in interview done by Union Squared Studios. woundedtimes.blogspot.com

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Navajo Code Talkers Exhibit

Sedona Arizona Visitors Enjoy
— Navajo Code Talkers Exhibit


Sedona, AZ: Japanese photographer Kenji Kawano, born in Fukuoka in 1949, was not yet born when a group of modern-day Navajo warriors, known as the Code Talkers, defied Japanese intelligence during World War II. By communicating in their own language, the Navajo Code Talkers provided the U.S. Marines with an unbreakable code.


Now, more than a half century later, Kenji Kawano’s photographs capture the spirit of those Navajo Code Talkers, whose code was never broken. “Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers,” at the Museum of Northern Arizona through Sunday, October 9, is an exhibit of 20 black and white photographs, each a handcrafted, gelatin-silver print on archival-quality paper.
read more here

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Last South Dakota code talker from World War II laid to rest

Last South Dakota code talker from World War II laid to rest
By Associated Press

June 23, 2010
STURGIS, S.D. (AP) — The last of the American Indian code talkers of South Dakota who served during World War II has been laid to rest.

Clarence Wolf Guts of Wanblee was buried Tuesday in Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. The 86-year-old Wolf Guts died June 16 at the South Dakota Veterans Home in Hot Springs.

Wolf Guts was one of 11 Lakota, Nakota and Dakota code talkers from South Dakota. During the war, they transmitted messages from an Army general to his chief of staff in the field using their native language, which the Germans and the Japanese could not translate.
read more here
South Dakota code talker laid to rest

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Navajo WWII Marine, Code Talker big hit at Yokosuka Naval Base’s elementary school


Kids tune in to ‘code talker’
A piece of living history visited Yokosuka Naval Base’s elementary school Wednesday to give students a first-hand account of his role in World War II. Samuel Smith, a Navajo and former Marine, was a member of the so-called "code talkers," who transmitted secret, tactical messages using their native language over military telephones and radios.
click link for more