Like
many Americans, Nez enlisted in the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor
(ironic when one considers he grew up in the desert). As history now knows, Nez was one of the original
30 “Code Talkers” – Marines who were fluent in speaking Navajo, a language barely
used on the reservations anymore, and completely unknown in Japan and the rest
of the world. They were charged with
developing a secret code in the Navajo language for use in battlefield radio
transmissions. Their code would be
successfully field tested in the battle for Guadalcanal and remain in use,
never broken, throughout the remainder of the war. Their code, and their
involvement in it, would be classified until 1968 -- by which time many of them
had passed away – long before being publicly honored or even acknowledged.
This
memoir has several interesting storylines, not the least of which is growing up
in the reservation/checkerboard culture, how the Native religions interplayed
with one’s world view, particularly as it pertains to death, and includes how the Code Talkers (420 by the end of the war) faired after the war.
The now declassified code itself, and how it was developed is a completely interesting story. It details how the little-known Navajo language, without words for such things as battleship and aircraft carrier, was updated, then embedded in a secret code.
Giving appropriate credit. Judith Schiess Avila interviewed Chester Nez for what was to be a biography. Since most of the narrative involves Nez telling his story, she changed the format to that of a memoir. Crediting Nez as the author of his story.
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