11 Nov: Navajo 'Code Talker' tells his WWII story at GVSU

From Chicago Tribune: Navajo 'Code Talker' tells his WWII story at GVSU
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—
An 88-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was among the famed Navajo Code Talkers during World War II is bringing his story to western Michigan on Thursday for a Veterans Day week event.

Samuel Sandoval of Shiprock, N.M., and his fellow Navajo speakers used the Native American language to communicate and keep Japanese interpreters from understanding U.S. forces' communications. Since few outsiders understood the language, their work offered a considerable tactical advantage for the U.S.

"The Japanese didn't have a chance," said Sandoval, who served in the Pacific. "I am pretty proud of what we did."

Using the language during the war was the idea of Phillip Johnston, the son of a Protestant missionary who grew up on a Navajo reservation. After convincing top commanders, Johnston launched a test program and the unit was formed in early 1942, as Johnston recruited the first 29 Code Talkers.

Native words were assigned to military terms, often linked to weapons they resembled. For example, tank was "chay-da-dahi," the Navajo word for turtle, and a dive bomber was "chini," which translates to chicken hawk, The Grand Rapids Press (http://j.mp/tZb7N) reported.

The code was expanded by assigning Navajo terms to individual letters, allowing Code Talkers to spell out words. The Navajo term for ant, "wo-la-chee," became the letter A. The term for badger, "na-hash-chid," was the letter B.

Sandoval enlisted in the Marines in 1943, followed by his brother, Merril, who also joined the Code Talkers. At first, Samuel Sandoval said he was puzzled at the intense interest the military had in him and his fellow Navajos.

"Why did they choose the Navajo boys? I didn't have an idea," he said.

Historians and military experts consider their work a remarkable chapter in the history of military intelligence, said Jonathan White, a terrorism and intelligence expert at Grand Valley State University.

"It certainly was an ingenious idea. And given our treatment of Native Americans, it was certainly gracious of them to perform a service like that," said White, head of the school's Homeland Defense Initiative.

It offered a considerable tactical advantage to have a code that the enemy couldn't penetrate, White said. He noted that U.S. intelligence operatives managed to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II.

Sadoval will tell his story at Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The Marine Corps League of Grand Rapids is hosting the event to highlight Veterans Day, which is Friday.