CODE TALKER By Chester Nez With Judith Schiess

This is a book review I did a couple of years ago. I thought it might be appropriate for Memorial Day as this remarkable gentleman is still with us.

2011

Prologue

In Chester’s home state of New Mexico, Native Americans were still denied the vote when he volunteered as a Marine in World War II.

Chester grew on the Navaho Reservation, up in the Checkerboard Area of New Mexico – hard country, close family ties, deep history, a big sky, and close walk with the Ancients – the spirits. He grew up in an atmosphere of peace and a belief in the balance of life and nature. 

“I’m no hero, “Chester Nez chuckles. “I just wanted to serve my country.”

                                                   November 4, 1942: Approaching Guadalcanal

“Born to the Navajo Nation, now a Marine – Private First Class Chester Nez – I’d never even seen the ocean before enlisting.”

The landing at Guadalcanal was more traumatic for the young Navajo men than from some of their fellow Marines. The Navajo have an aversion to dead bodies, and the water that they rode through, and then walked through to get to the beach which was literally filled with fallen Marines. This was far from the plateaus of his home – of Chichiltah – “Among the Oak Trees”, between Gallup and Zuni, New Mexico. 

For decades, the story of Chester Nez, was classified. Chester was one of the original Navajo Code Talkers. Not even their families knew of the great service they rendered the United States of America. It was not until July 2001, in the Rotunda of our nation’s Capital, when President George W. Bush, presented the Congressional Gold Medal to four surviving heroes – the Code Talkers. 

When Chester was eight years old, the government decided to send he and other boys his age to the Indian School at Tohatchi, New Mexico. 

Immediately, their names were changed from their Navajo names to more ‘American’ sounding names. The second day at school, they learned that they were to speak only English, and that they would be severely punished for speaking their own language. The government transferred the Navajo boys from Gallup to a much older high school in Tuba City.

Closer to his home now, he listened to the radio reports of fighting in Europe, and he read the resolution written by the Navajo Tribal Council. In part it said;

 “Now, Therefore, we resolve that the Navajo Indians stand ready to do as they did in 1918, to aid and defend our Government and its institutions against all subversive and armed conflict and pledge our loyalty to the system which recognizes minority rights and a way of life that has placed us among the great people of our race.”

Then on that Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, word spread like wildfire, “The Japs bombed Pearl Harbor!”

In April of 1942, Marine recruiters gained permission, and were allowed to visit the reservation. They asked to speak with only men fluent in both English and Navajo. They were being interviewed for a special assignment at a special school.

Between December and the following April, the Japanese had conquered Hong Kong, Guam, most of the Philippine Islands. Soldiers were dying and it almost seemed that the tiny nation of Japan would soon rule the entire South Pacific. There was no security in passing messages to troops. Every code had been broken, and lives were being lost in tragic numbers.

Enter Chester Nez and 18 other young men – raised Navajo, beaten until they learned English, with warrior blood in their veins, and a great love for their country. These young warriors raised their right hands and became proud members of the United States Marine Corps. By the end of WWII, that number had grown to 420, due to the success and lives saved by these men and ‘the code’ that they devised.

You must read this story of heroism and valor in its truest sense. 

As of March 2012, Chester Nez, now in his 90’s is still alive and lives with his son. When he is able, he still attends meetings of WWII Vets and book signings.

Post Script – May 26, 2014

Chester though old and frail attended a program for this Memorial Day on May 23, 2014 with Ms. Avila, the author of his story, in Pittsburg, Kansas. In an article in The Joplin Globe, the news reporter announcing the event, Ms. Andra Stefanoni, ended her article by stating;

“The Choctaw serving in the U.S. Army during World War I are said to have pioneered code talking. In addition to Navajo, other Native American code talkers deployed by the U.S. during World War II included Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota, Meskwaki, Seminole and Comanche.”