"There are a lot of people on the reservation, and a lot of people off the (Navajo) Nation that want an opportunity to honor the Code Talkers in their own way," said Michael Smith, clerk at the Navajo Nation Supreme Court and the Window Rock liaison for the National Code Talkers Association.
"This day provides an opportunity for people to step forward and honor these men," said Smith, whose father, Samuel Jesse Smith, was a Code Talker.
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteDollars to doughnuts, "Code Talkers Day" will honor ONLY Navajo code talkers, even if there were over a dozen other Native tribes who supplied code talkers, both in WWI and WWII. The classic film, THUNDERBIRDS, about the 45th Division of National Guard from Oklahoma, chronicles the Native code talkers in Europe during WWII, and none of them were Navajo. Ah, well, let them have their day. It won't make the NBC Evening News...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I presume the Navajo will honor only their own codetalkers since it's a Navajo Nation tribal holiday. Most nations don't honor the citizens of other nations.
ReplyDeleteIf other tribes with codetalkers want to hold their own codetalker holidays, they're free to do so.