Chapter 0099 - 452R - H Ver of SB1164

House Engrossed

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Forty-fifth Legislature

Second Regular Session

2002

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2035

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

honoring the Native American Code Talkers.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Whereas, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States Congress declared war the following day; and

Whereas, the military code developed by the United States for transmitting messages had been deciphered by the Japanese and a search was made by United States intelligence to develop new means to counter the enemy; and

Whereas, Philip Johnston, the son of a missionary to the Navajos who was familiar with the Navajo language, brought to the attention of military commanders that the extreme complexity of Navajo might make it a valuable military code. Navajo, an unwritten language that has no alphabet or symbols, proved to be an undecipherable code since its syntax and tonal qualities, including its dialects, make it unintelligible to all except those who have had extensive training and exposure to it. Initial tests using the Navajo language as a code demonstrated that the Navajos could encode, transmit and decode a three-line English message in twenty seconds, a feat that took machines thirty minutes to accomplish; and

Whereas, the United States government called upon the Navajo Nation to support the military effort by recruiting and enlisting twenty-nine Navajo men to serve as Marine Corps radio operators in 1942. At the time, the Navajos often were treated as second-class citizens and they were generally discouraged from using their native language. The Navajo Marine Corps radio operators, who became known as the "Navajo Code Talkers", developed an unbreakable code using their native language to communicate military messages, and created a dictionary and numerous words for military terms that did not exist in Navajo. By 1945, the number of Navajo enlistees stood at approximately five hundred forty, with around four hundred of those serving as trained Code Talkers; and

Whereas, the Navajo language, discouraged in the past, was instrumental in developing the most significant and successful military code of the time. This remarkable code was used extensively throughout the Pacific theater during the war. At Iwo Jima alone, six Navajo Code Talkers worked around the clock, passing more than eight hundred error-free messages in a forty-eight hour period. Use of the Navajo Code was so successful that military commanders credited it with saving the lives of countless American soldiers and in the success of United States engagements in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Peleliu and Okinawa. Much to the enemy’s frustration, they were never able to decipher the Navajo Code; and

Whereas, the Navajo Code was kept secret by the Department of Defense for twenty-three years after the end of World War II. Following the conclusion of World War II, the Department of Defense maintained the secrecy of the Navajo Code until it was declassified in 1968. Only then did the exceptional sacrifice and valor of these brave and resourceful Native Americans emerge from history. Their skill, speed and accuracy in using the unique Navajo Code remains a feat unparalleled in our nation’s military endeavors and the Navajo Code Talkers are deserving of the highest praise; and

Whereas, the Navajo Code Talkers distinguished themselves in performing a unique, highly successful communications operation that greatly assisted in saving countless lives and hastened the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States honored these outstanding citizens by awarding to each of the original twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers, or a surviving family member, a gold medal on behalf of Congress and to each person who qualified as a Navajo Code Talker, or a surviving family member, a silver medal on behalf of Congress; and

Whereas, New Mexico has honored the Navajo Code Talkers, who subjected themselves to the most intense elements of combat at the time, and it is only fitting that this state does the same; and

Whereas, at least seventeen Indian tribes have been identified as having served as Code Talkers during World War I and World War II. These tribes include the Oklahoma Choctaw, the Lakota-Dakota, the Sioux, the Commanche, the Hopi, many of whom served in the 223^rd Battalion, the Sac and Fox Tribe of Iowa, the Choctaw, the Assiniboine, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Muscogee Creek tribes. All Native American Code Talkers have performed an important service to the preservation of democracy, and they are deserving of long overdue recognition.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1. That the Members of the Legislature recognize the outstanding contributions of the Native American Code Talkers to the success of the United States military during World Wars I and II and honor these remarkable individuals for their exceptional bravery and patriotism.

2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Resolution to the Navajo Nation and to the news media of Arizona.