thedrifter
12-16-05, 06:24 AM
Navajo code talker says it was his duty to serve
By Linda McIntosh
UNION-TRIBUNE COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER
December 16, 2005
CAMP PENDLETON – Long before retired Staff Sgt. Mike Tsosie joined the Marine Corps and came to Camp Pendleton, he learned an important chapter in the history of the Corps and the base.
When he was a boy, Tsosie's father had told him about his days as a Navajo code talker during World War II.
"I asked him a lot of questions," said Tsosie, who became a Marine like his dad and served more than 20 years. "I wanted to know what kind of code it was."
Now Tsosie brings his father, Samuel, who was a corporal during World War II, to high schools in North County to let students ask those same questions.
This fall, Tsosie's father traveled from his home on a Navajo reservation in Arizona and visited Carlsbad High School to talk to students there about being a code talker.
Samuel Tsosie, 80, served in the Marines from 1942 to 1946. He was based at Camp Elliott in San Diego before coming to Camp Pendleton.
"I enlisted to do my part for the war," he said.
After boot camp, he went to radio school and learned about communications and codes. Then he learned the Navajo code language.
His job was to transmit information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other crucial battle communications, using the Navajo language, over phone and radio. He translated messages from the commanding officer and sent them to other Navajo code talkers.
"I was used to speaking the language, but I had to learn to write it down," Tsosie said. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and saw combat in the South Pacific.
Generally, code talkers broke down each English word into individual letters, then used a Navajo word to correspond to each letter.
For example, one way to say the word "Navy" in Navajo code would be tsah (needle) wol-la-chee (ant) ah-keh-di-glini (victor) tsah-ah-dzoh (yucca).
The developers of the code also assigned Navajo words to an estimated 450 frequently used military terms that did not exist in the Navajo language such as "besh-lo" (iron fish) meaning submarine and "dah-he-tih-hi" (hummingbird) meaning "fighter plane."
Most letters had more than one Navajo word representing them and not all words had to be spelled out letter by letter.
"We never made a mistake," Tsosie said.
The code was kept a secret until the late 1960s, he said.
In 1945, more than 500 Navajo served in the Marines. About 400 were trained as code talkers.
Samuel Tsosie regards his code talking years as his duty.
"It was part of my job as a Marine," he said.
When he meets with students and tells about his part in World War II, he usually tries to tie it in with what's on their minds.
"I tell them they have to set up a goal and try to get up to the goals," Tsosie said.
His son, Mike, 53, lives near Temecula.
Ellie
By Linda McIntosh
UNION-TRIBUNE COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER
December 16, 2005
CAMP PENDLETON – Long before retired Staff Sgt. Mike Tsosie joined the Marine Corps and came to Camp Pendleton, he learned an important chapter in the history of the Corps and the base.
When he was a boy, Tsosie's father had told him about his days as a Navajo code talker during World War II.
"I asked him a lot of questions," said Tsosie, who became a Marine like his dad and served more than 20 years. "I wanted to know what kind of code it was."
Now Tsosie brings his father, Samuel, who was a corporal during World War II, to high schools in North County to let students ask those same questions.
This fall, Tsosie's father traveled from his home on a Navajo reservation in Arizona and visited Carlsbad High School to talk to students there about being a code talker.
Samuel Tsosie, 80, served in the Marines from 1942 to 1946. He was based at Camp Elliott in San Diego before coming to Camp Pendleton.
"I enlisted to do my part for the war," he said.
After boot camp, he went to radio school and learned about communications and codes. Then he learned the Navajo code language.
His job was to transmit information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other crucial battle communications, using the Navajo language, over phone and radio. He translated messages from the commanding officer and sent them to other Navajo code talkers.
"I was used to speaking the language, but I had to learn to write it down," Tsosie said. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and saw combat in the South Pacific.
Generally, code talkers broke down each English word into individual letters, then used a Navajo word to correspond to each letter.
For example, one way to say the word "Navy" in Navajo code would be tsah (needle) wol-la-chee (ant) ah-keh-di-glini (victor) tsah-ah-dzoh (yucca).
The developers of the code also assigned Navajo words to an estimated 450 frequently used military terms that did not exist in the Navajo language such as "besh-lo" (iron fish) meaning submarine and "dah-he-tih-hi" (hummingbird) meaning "fighter plane."
Most letters had more than one Navajo word representing them and not all words had to be spelled out letter by letter.
"We never made a mistake," Tsosie said.
The code was kept a secret until the late 1960s, he said.
In 1945, more than 500 Navajo served in the Marines. About 400 were trained as code talkers.
Samuel Tsosie regards his code talking years as his duty.
"It was part of my job as a Marine," he said.
When he meets with students and tells about his part in World War II, he usually tries to tie it in with what's on their minds.
"I tell them they have to set up a goal and try to get up to the goals," Tsosie said.
His son, Mike, 53, lives near Temecula.
Ellie