thedrifter
04-02-09, 12:23 PM
Navajo Code Talkers receive star status in community
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 1st, 2009
BY: Mary Forney — Lake Powell Chronicle
It was 1942 when Navajo Nation trading posts were buzzing with messages announcing that special volunteers were being sought by the U.S. Marine Corps. The trading posts were asked to spread word across the reservation that the Marines were in need of 200 bilingual Navajo men.
Alfred K. Newman Sr. was only 18 years old when a friend told him about the opportunity.
“This was the Marines – that meant something,” Newman said. “My family didn’t have a car so I walked to Highway 40 and waited for a bus to come by. I waved it down and rode right to the gate of Fort Wingate. Another Navajo came by and gave me a ride to the recruiting office. A lot of Navajos didn’t have cars then so they walked or rode their horses to get there.”
“I joined because I was a young man who wanted to see what’s what out there and that’s what you do when you join the Marines. It was all right with my mother, and my step-father said it was a good idea because I would probably get drafted anyways.”
Ellie
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 1st, 2009
BY: Mary Forney — Lake Powell Chronicle
It was 1942 when Navajo Nation trading posts were buzzing with messages announcing that special volunteers were being sought by the U.S. Marine Corps. The trading posts were asked to spread word across the reservation that the Marines were in need of 200 bilingual Navajo men.
Alfred K. Newman Sr. was only 18 years old when a friend told him about the opportunity.
“This was the Marines – that meant something,” Newman said. “My family didn’t have a car so I walked to Highway 40 and waited for a bus to come by. I waved it down and rode right to the gate of Fort Wingate. Another Navajo came by and gave me a ride to the recruiting office. A lot of Navajos didn’t have cars then so they walked or rode their horses to get there.”
“I joined because I was a young man who wanted to see what’s what out there and that’s what you do when you join the Marines. It was all right with my mother, and my step-father said it was a good idea because I would probably get drafted anyways.”
Ellie