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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid account, November 12, 2003
Except among students of history and military buffs, the story of the Navajo code talkers - Marines who were recruited from the Navajo reservations in Arizona and New Mexico - remained relatively unknown until last year's movie, Windtalkers. Unfortunately, the actual history of the code talkers got buried in the shoot-em-up special-effects extravaganza filmed by action director John Woo, who was way out of his league. In that movie, the brave and inventive contributions of the code talkers merely served as a plot device for the white hero's (played by Nicholas Cage) ultimate redemption.However, those interested in the rarely-told real story need only to open the pages of this informative book. Author McClain follows the story of the almost 400 Navajos who volunteered for service during World War II and served in all six Marine divisions. These enlistees adapted their native tongue, Dineh, into an unbreakable code that would keep Japanese radio operators and cryptologists entirely baffled during the length of the war. The obscure origins of the Navajo code talker program date back to World War I. After American entry in that war, the signal corps learned that Central powers were listening in on orders relayed on that new communication tool, the radio. They then engaged Choctaw Indians as radio operators in order to safely transmit information. It worked like a charm. However, after war's end, the German government sent numerous "scholars" to the United States in order to "study" the lives and societies on many American Indian nation reservations. Actually, the so-called students were intelligence agents there to learn native languages. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the need for a absolutely secret code was vital. Marine Maj. Gen. Clayton B. Vogel and civilian Philip Johnston, a white man who grew up on the Navajo reservation at Leuppe, Ariz., concluded that Navajo would be an ideal code language because many Navajo were educated in English at Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools, and especially since no German scholars had been sent to Navajo reservations. This secret code would be instrumental in keeping Corps operations secure and, most importantly, its men alive. On May 4, 1942, the Marines had recruited 29 Navajos, which formed the 382nd Platoon, a trial unit that would go through the rigors of boot camp at the Marine Depot at San Diego. Although attrition levels for this period were between five to ten per cent, not one Navajo dropped out of the training. Up until graduation from boot camp, the "first 29" (as they would later be known as) had no idea for what special duty they had been recruited. Upon arrival at Camp Elliott, outside of San Diego, they were informed that their mission was to devise a code for secret and rapid radio transmission based on their native tongue. Code talker Eugene Crawford recalled the irony of the situation: Having been forced to speak only English in the BIA schools he attended, "he could almost taste the harsh brown soap the teachers forced him to use to scrub out his mouth when he was caught speaking Navajo." Now, his government was ordering him and his fellow Marines to use Navajo to defeat the enemy! Once the code was in place, code talkers were sent to the Pacific and were key in assisting U.S. forces to victory in its island-hopping campaign in battles such as Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Saipan, Guam and Iwo Jima. Because they were all proficient in both English and Navajo, the code talkers lent an element of speed previously unavailable in decoding. Translation from English to Navajo back to English was instant; prior to that, it took hours to decode cryptographic messages and recode the replies. This was a crucial element in the swiftness of battle that left Japanese forces reeling. Marine cipher specialist Richard Bonham remarked on the Navaho code: "The efficiency that the Navajo developed themselves, to write it down immediately and exactly, was something we marveled at. When you needed an artillery strike, you want it to start now!" Most importantly, countless American lives were saved by the code talkers. They were regarded as so essential that fellow Marines were assigned as their bodyguards, to keep them out of enemy hands. Strangely, the code talkers were occasionally the targets of their fellow Marines, as they were sometimes mistaken for Japanese soldiers in disguise. After war's end, the code talkers returned to the reservation heroes, but did not receive a hero's welcome. Yet, they stayed true to their oaths to keep the code secret. Their mission was classified and not until 1969 would they receive public recognition for their exploits. Thanks to the efforts of Congressman Lee Cannon - who had fought at Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division - the Navajo code talkers were honored during the 4th Marine Division Association's reunion in Chicago that year. After the last code talker was honored, Cannon lauded them, "these men are quiet; they kept their trust; they are Fourth Division heroes - every one of them!" Author McClain tells the code talkers' story matter-of-factly, relying on a wealth of information from declassified military documents, valuable oral history from the Doris Duke collection (Duke was the first to systematically interview the Navajo code talkers) and numerous interviews conducted by the author herself. Although the history is recounted somewhat dryly, this is a thoroughgoing and honest effort. She lets the book's heroes do much of the talking: There is a treasure trove of personal anecdotes and first-person eyewitness accounts. Although not the most polished history I've read (often, rank is not cited), it does give the reader that "you are there" feeling. The spirit of these proud people's exploits can be summed up in the words of code talker Carl Gorman: "Many people ask me why I fought for my country when the government has treated us pretty bad. But, before the white man came to this country, this whole land was Indian country and we still think it's our land, so we fight for it. I was very proud to serve my country."
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