“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13
In my neighborhood during Veterans week, the condo association puts 5 American flags in front of the homes of every veteran. Each flag represents an arm of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard. As I drive through the neighborhood, it’s gratifying to see the flags flying to honor the men who fought for their country.
One of the more captivating stories of World War II is the account of a small group of Native American tribesmen who were entrusted with translating secret messages into a code based on their native language. When the 29 Navajo men stepped into the Marine recruiter’s office in 1942, none of them were sure what their futures would hold. Chester Nez thought he was going to get a belt of ammunition, a rifle, a steel helmet and a uniform. Chester wasn’t all wrong. He and his fellow Navajos would go on to fight battles across the Pacific and European fronts, like many other soldiers, but these men were destined for something different. They would become part of the US Military’s Code Talkers program using the tools of their native language and culture to win the Allied victory.
The Code Talkers program was proposed by a World War I veteran. Philip Johnson was the son of a missionary to the Navajo nation and as a child, learned to speak their language. He proposed that by translating all messages into Native American languages, they could reduce the risk of interference by Japanese officials, who were otherwise likely to crack the code and use the secret information to defeat the Allied troops.
Though some of the words in the military code could be translated, others were more complex. They used the name of a type of animal to represent each letter of the alphabet. In some cases, they had to invent a word. They had no word for “tank,” so one Code Talker said, “it’s like the Comanche word for turtle. It’s just like a turtle, it has a hard shell and moves slowly, so we called it a ‘wakareee,’ a turtle.”
To the Marines surprise, the Code Talkers created and memorized the new military code almost immediately. For them, it was simple! One of the native Americans said, “For us, everything is memory, it’s part of our heritage. We have no written language. Our songs, our prayers, our stories are handed down from grandfather to father to children—we listen, we hear, we learn to remember everything.” The coded messages included privileged information that could change the outcome of a battle in minutes. During the first 2 days of the battle of Iwo Jima, the Code Talkers sent and decoded 800 messages! Thanks to their skillful work, the Axis forces never managed to intercept a single message from the Allied troops. The Japanese “pulled their hair out” trying to decipher the code. Because it was one of the hardest languages to learn, it was never decoded or deciphered!
It wasn’t until 1968 that the military declassified the program and honored the men for their service. In 2001, the surviving veterans of the Code Talkers program were presented with the Congressional Medals of Honor. On the back of the medals was an inscription in the Navajo language: “With the Navajo language they defeated the enemy.”
Praise God, Jesus defeated our enemy, satan, at the cross! He came to earth, knowing He would die on a cross to pay a debt we could never pay. He willingly gave up His life and bridged the gap between God and mankind. He freely offers salvation to all those who come to Him. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9.
Your friend, Jean