The last Code Talkers
A memorable day with a 'true hero of our nation'
Navajo Code Talker Colonel Bailey, left, with Baldwin in 2002./Courtesy photo
I first met Colonel Bailey during the fall of 2002. I invited him to speak to my senior English class at Ignacio High School. I believe he has since passed, as there are only three living Navajo Code Talkers that are still living.
The Colonel told the story of how a white man came to recruit Navajos from the reservation who were fluent in the Navajo language. They were selected for a top-secret project involving the military. He recounted, “They recruited 24 of us in 1942. They took us to an undisclosed destination in Arizona from Gallup. I recall that one of the 24 decided to return to the reservation. We went through boot camp, then shipped to communications school. We were always under tight security.”
There were about 642 code talkers by the end of the war. All these men served in both theatres of war, and those in the Pacific Theatre were all marines. In the European Theatre, they served mostly in the army units.
There were two types of secret coding. The first type was developed from the Comanche, Hopi, Mekwaki and Navajo dialects. The coders used words from their language for each letter of the alphabet. The second type was derived from using simple cypher texts using the Native language words. For example, a submarine was coded as an “ironfish.”
The first code talkers served in World War I, using Cherokee, Choctaw and Lakota languages, but little is written of their endeavors. These men sacrificed a lot as they were put in frontline positions to secure vital information during reconnaissance patrols. Casualty rates among code talkers were extremely high in both wars.
Unfortunately, many Navajo Code Talkers did not receive recognition for their valor until 1986. President Clinton finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the original 24 in 2000. Since then, other presidents have awarded citations to code talkers from other tribes.
Looking back at that day, I remember my students being mesmerized by Colonel Bailey’s stories. After his presentation, every student came up to shake his hand. One related that she would never forget meeting and shaking the hand of a true hero of our nation.