FRANKLYWNOW - The incredible story of the Navajo Code Talkers that got lost in

The incredible story of the Navajo Code Talkers that got lost in all the politics

Published: 11/29/2017 10:26:00 +02:00 Updated:
Silver Spring, Maryland -

When Peter McDonald, Fleming Begaye and Thomas Begay joined the elite fraternity of Navajo Code Talkers during World War II, they had no idea what they were getting into.

That was by design. The top-secret program they joined wouldn't even be declassified until more than two decades later -- long after the secret Navajo code language had played a vital role in the American war effort.
All they knew at the time was that the Marines were recruiting and needed help from the Navajo people. "So we all volunteered. That's how he went in, that's how he went in, that's how I went in," said McDonald, now 90, of his two comrades. McDonald, Begaye and Begay were at the White House on Monday to receive praise for their service.
The three were among the Navajo troops who learned a secret, unbreakable code language that was used to send information on tactics, troop movements and orders over the radio and telephone.
The code was indecipherable to the enemy and a key factor in the American military victories at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and several other major battles in the Pacific theater.
 
A photograph of Navajo Code Talkers, Cpl Henry Bake, Jr. and PFC George H. Kirk in Bougainville, circa 1943.
Only 13 of the code talkers are still alive, McDonald said.
In the 24 hours since President Donald Trump honored them, the focus of media attention has been on his comment derisively calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas." But before that comment, Trump spoke in awe about a topic he admitted he had known little about beforehand.
"I have to say, I said to Gen. (John) Kelly ... I said, 'How good were these code talkers? What was it?' He said, 'Sir, you have no idea. You have no idea how great they were -- what they've done for this country, and the strength and the bravery and the love that they had for the country,'" Trump said, turning to the code talkers, "and that you have for the country."

The origins of the Code Talkers

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