Thomas H. Begay, 101, is expected in Phoenix for the commemoration
A crowd is expected in Phoenix on Aug. 14 for a commemoration of the Navajo Code Talkers. Thomas H. Begay, 101, is among the last two remaining Code Talkers and is expected to attend the gathering.
President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation in 1982 designating Aug. 14 as the official day to honor the Navajo Code Talkers and all Native Americans who served in the war.
The Navajo Code Talkers program remained secret for decades. Its public recognition followed decades during which the recruits’ wartime work was not widely known outside the military.
During World War II, the Marine Corps recruited hundreds of Navajos to create a code based on their native language. The recruits used a language that was then unwritten to communicate information intended to remain confidential.
In all, the military recruited and trained more than 400 Navajo men for the program. The operation became the largest code-talking program in the military at the time.
Between 1942 and 1945, the Code Talkers sent thousands of secret messages. Those messages addressed battle tactics and enemy troop movements.
Their efforts frustrated the Japanese force and played a vital role in U.S. victories in the Pacific War. The messages ultimately helped save the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers, according to the account of the program.
Dawn Manuelito, a granddaughter of one of the first 29 Navajo Code Talkers, said: “The U.S. was being defeated. Without that code, that war could have been different.” She added: “Our language saved this country.”