Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Judi Lynn

(160,451 posts)
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 05:16 PM Jun 2014

Last of Navajo World War II ‘code talkers’ dies in New Mexico

Source: Reuters

Last of Navajo World War II ‘code talkers’ dies in New Mexico
By Reuters
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 16:29 EDT

By Joseph Kolb

ALBUQUERQUE N.M. (Reuters) – The last of 29 Navajo Americans who developed an unbreakable code that helped Allied forces win the second World War died in New Mexico on Wednesday of kidney failure at the age of 93.

Chester Nez was the last remaining survivor of an original group of 29 Navajos recruited by the U.S. Marine Corps to create a code based on their language that the Japanese could not crack.

The president of the Navajo Nation, Ben Shelly, said his office had been in touch with the family, and that Nez had died peacefully in his sleep.

“It saddens me to hear the last of the original code talkers has died,” Shelly told Reuters. “I am ordering flags to be flown at half mast beginning tomorrow … We are proud of these young men in defending the country they loved using their Navajo language.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/04/last-of-navajo-world-war-ii-code-talkers-dies-in-new-mexico/

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Last of Navajo World War II ‘code talkers’ dies in New Mexico (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jun 2014 OP
That was quite the story. Vibes to him and his code talking friends. applegrove Jun 2014 #1
They made history! Behind the Aegis Jun 2014 #2
Massive respect psychopomp Jun 2014 #3
Peace... countryjake Jun 2014 #4
Lets not forget the less known Commache Code breakers who worked in Europe happyslug Jun 2014 #5
May you forever now walk in beauty Sir FailureToCommunicate Jun 2014 #6
Invaluable service this man provided--thank you sir, and rest in peace. TwilightGardener Jun 2014 #7
Semper Fi, Chester and rest in peace. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #8

countryjake

(8,554 posts)
4. Peace...
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:30 PM
Jun 2014


13 amazing facts about Navajo Code Talker Chester Nez



And this blurb from his recent book, Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII


His name wasn’t Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought to rid him of his culture and traditions. But discrimination didn’t stop Chester from answering the call to defend his country after Pearl Harbor, for the Navajo have always been warriors, and his upbringing on a New Mexico reservation gave him the strength—both physical and mental—to excel as a marine.

During World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific.


http://www.amazon.com/Code-Talker-Memoir-Original-Talkers/dp/0425247856


Informative video on the Code Talkers
 

happyslug

(14,779 posts)
5. Lets not forget the less known Commache Code breakers who worked in Europe
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:31 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.comanchelanguage.org/Comanche%20Code%20Talkers.htm

http://www.defense.gov/specials/nativeam02/cemetery.html

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/20/congress-to-honor-native-american-code-talkers-who-helped-beat-wwii-germany/

The Comanche Code talkers were only used in France and Germany, they were not used in North Africa or Italy. Used only for less then a year, they do not get the publicity of the Navajo code talkers, but they efforts were as large. In many ways they were more important for Germany was the main enemy during WWII, Japan was a side show dominated by the Navy (FDR had agreed to a 90-10 rule on supplies to both wars, 90% for the war in Europe, 10% for the War against Japan, thus when the first new US Battleship was commissioned after Pearl Harbor it was sent to North Africa not the Pacific. The British kept all of their carriers in either the Atlantic or Mediterranean seas till the German Surrender. Given the lack of long range German planes (and the existence of the B-24 with its huge range), carriers were deemed not needed in the Atlantic. Given the number of German Surface raiders including its remaining Battleship, the Tirpitz, and that the battles of the North Sea and North Atlantic often occurred at night (Which both the British and American Navy had not yet fully been capable of doing during WWII and that lack of ability lasted till the 1950s), Battleships were preferred in the Atlantic.

Given this preference for Europe over the Pacific, the US forces in Europe had access to much more material, men and equipment then the forces in the Pacific. Given that the US never made an invasion in Europe outside the range of land based fighter planes, the British Carriers were more then sufficient for operations in Europe (Most Active in the Mediterranean). Even with this advantage the US kept one Carrier, the USS Ranger in the Atlantic for most of WWII. The USS Wasp also stayed in the Atlantic till the sinking of the Yorktown in the Battle of Midway when it was transferred to the Pacific.

AS 1942 went on, the US Army had heard of the success of the Navajo Code Talkers and decided to do the same for the US Army. This started later and with a different tribe and language and only operated from June 6, 1944 till the Surrender of Germany on May 8th 1945.

http://www.geni.com/projects/Comanche-Code-Talkers-The-Comanche-Signal-Corp/8121

Side note: Battleships and Aircraft Carriers during WWII:

The first battle between a Carrier and a Battleship was on June 5, 1940, the Battleship sunk the Carrier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glorious

The main reason was the German Battleships had traveled all night and spotted the British Carrier just after Dawn, before the Carrier had even launched any aircraft for its dawn patrol. The carrier was a sitting duck.

The ability to travel up to 600 miles a day was typical of fast battleship of that time period, through this pace was rarely done for any length of time for it ate up fuel. A slow WWI era Battleship could do 200 miles in a day. Given that Naval Aircraft did not have Combat ranges over 300 miles, it was possible for Battleships to defeat Carriers in the Atlantic.

It was also true that Battleships could defeat Carriers in the Pacific, but the wider distances of the Pacific permitted more places a Carrier could retreat to if threatened by any battleship attack. This is what the US Navy did at Midway, after sinking the Japanese Carriers. After he had lost his last Carrier, Yamamoto, the Japanese Admiral sent out his Battleships to engage the US Fleet. The US Commander just retreated and conceded that part of the Pacific to the Japanese Battleships. With the US Carriers still able to engage any invasion force, Yamamoto could not rely only on his Battleship to take Midway Island, thus he had to withdraw.

I bring these battles up for Battleships were still competitive with Aircraft Carriers as the dominate weapons at sea during WWII, and did remain so till the 1950s. Given that the only countries with any Navy after WWII were close allies of the US (Britain and France), the need for Battleships disappeared. Carriers almost followed the same fate, both only survived scrapping by the Korean War, the Carriers for they could provide Air Support off the coasts of Korea, the Battleship for they could provide direct fire power over the coasts of Korea.


The Code Talkers only came out as the US Military decided such codes were no longer needed given modern digital transmitters. Since the 1960s the US Military has operated on a two frequency system, one to transmit one to receive. Thus unless you know both frequencies, all you hear is one side of a conversation, which soldiers were taught to keep short. The two frequency system and the adoption of digital transmitters made the use of such codes meaningless (also modern computers by the 1970s were sophisticated enough to break the codes). Remember the Japanese had determined early on the language was Navajo, but could not break the code inside the Navajo language. There is one case where a Navajo was captured who was NOT a code talker and asked to translate, he could not for it sounded like gibberish to him. That unfortunate soldier ended up being tortured for nothing.

I bring this up, for this was a great code in its day using the technology of that time period, but within 30 years had become easy to crack (Advent of Super Computers in the 1970s) AND replaced by more sophisticated communication systems, like the one used on your cell phones. Like the Battleship the Code Talkers had their day in the sun, but technology has left them behind.
Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Last of Navajo World War ...