Mekinna Knight- Navajo Code

This week's current event is saddening as well as the continuation of a legacy that is truly  amazing. Fleming Begaye Sr., a member of the top-secret Navajo Code Talker program that developed an unbreakable code language during World War II, has passed away at the age of 97. Begaye served as a Navajo Code Talker in the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1945 and fought in the Battle of Tarawa and the Battle of Tinian, the Great Navajo Nation noted in a statement.The code was indecipherable to the Japanese and a key factor in American military victories at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and several other major battles. He spent one year in a naval hospital for service injuries. As a code talker, Begaye was one of a group of Navajos who learned a secret, unbreakable language that was used to send information on tactics, troop movements and orders over the radio and telephone during WWII. Begaye was one of three surviving code talkers who were honored at the White House in November 2017. The Navajo Nation said that less than seven code talkers are still alive of the more than 400 who served. Today, the service and sacrifice made by Begaye and others involved in the Navajo Nation are greatly appreciated and celebrated.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/05/12/wwii-era-navajo-code-talker-fleming-begaye-sr-dies-at-97/

This event can be directly related to the WWII combatant's appreciation for the unbreakable code that would help them communicate while protecting their operational plans. The Marine Corps leadership selected 29 Navajo men, the Navajo Code Talkers, who created a code based on the complex, unwritten Navajo language.