December 9, 2012
Today's Photograph . . . . Marine Navajo Code Talkers (Archives.Gov) |
Bile Study Verses
I Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (NKJV)
II Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (NKJV)
Thoughts
Missionary son and World
War I veteran Phil Johnston authored the Marine Navajo code talkers'
communication system. It's success was based upon the complexity
of the Navajo language, the alphabet and native origin symbols that did
not exist on paper except for an incomplete Navajo dictionary, Navajo
had been passed down generation-by-generation verbally, and the tribe
had not been infiltrated by German art dealers, students, and
anthropologists studying various tribal dialect.
The participants
were from a small geographical reservation within mostly Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah who were highly educated in the English
language and possessed first language knowledge of the written and oral Navajo.
Examples of some words used:
- Hummingbird was a fighter plane.
- Chicken hawk was a dive bomber.
- 411 words used for the most frequently repeated letters- E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, and U. Letter A could be designated by the words"tse-nihl" or "be-la-sana" meaning "axe" or "apple" and "wol-la-chee," meaning "ant".
Marine challenges to overcome were:
- Combat officers were leery to depend on an order being translated in a language that they themselves had no chance of understanding.
- Available qualified Navajos.
- Lack of military terminology in Navajo.
- Navajos who volunteered through Selective Service were often sent to other branches of the military.
Benefits of Navajo code talkers:
- Communication by radio that was both secure and error-free.
- The one code the Japanese were never able to break- the Navajo Marine Corps. code.
- All code talkers were excellent general-duty marines.
375 to 420 Navajos served as code talkers returning
home without parades or fanfare since they were sworn to secrecy about
the existence of the code should it ever have to used again which was
resurrected in the Korean and Vietnam wars. "Honoring the Code Talkers
Act" became law on December 21, 2000. Awards of the Congressional Gold Medal to each of the original 29 Navajo code talkers and the Congressional Silver Medal to each man who later qualified as a code talker.
Sportsmen's Devotional would like to thank the remaining original code talker, Cpl. Chester Nez, for his excellent and necessary service in saving hundreds if not thousands of lives. Cpl. Nez has also been an avid deer hunter and sportsman. Again thank you Cpl. Nez!!!
(Jo Q)
Action Point
As
soldiers for Christ we must remember our God is not the author of
confusion. He has given each of us that are walking in His Light a
spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a sound mind.
We
could all learn from the Marine Navajo code talkers. They did their job
so well in secrecy and humility not striving for human recognition.
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
A
little know fact, some of the largest mule deer in the North America
live on the Navajo Reservation. One needs to accompanied by a Navajo
guide if you can draw this precious tag. Contact Navajo Fish and
Wildlife for more information at http://www.
