National Navajo Code Talkers Museum breaks ground
Share
Tweet
Sgt. Melissa Marnell, Office of the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps / U.S. Marine Corps
A National Navajo Code Talkers Day in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation.
TSE BONITO, N.M.-The National Navajo Code Talkers Museum is closer to being a reality. On August 2022, National Navajo Code Talkers Day, workers will break ground on a 400-acre permanent site in Tse Bonito, New Mexico.
The museum will honor the Navajo Code Talkers who used the Dine language to help the United States and its allies achieve victory in World War II.
"Since our inception, we have been actively planning and strategizing . . . Our vision statement: Educating the world about the official Navajo language code, and the culture of the brave men chosen to create it, to advance the victory in the Pacific Theater in WWII," said Regan Hawthorne, a member of the museum board and a veteran of the U.S. Army.
During World War II, 29 Navajo Marines created the unbreakable code that would be used and expanded by hundreds of Code Talkers over 26 years. In countless occasions, the Code Talkers saved American lives and played critical roles in many significant battles.
Over 400 Navajo citizens took part in the once-classified Code Talker project. They served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific theater, during a crucial portion of the world war. Now, only four of those original Code Talkers are alive, accrding to the board of the museum.
"On August 14, we'll be celebrating the 80th anniversary," said Peter MacDonald, a 90-year-old Code Talker and former leader of the Navajo Nation. "The establishment of the esteemed, unbreakable and unforgettable Navajo Code, that saved lives and helped win the war in the Pacific."
Thomas Begay, John Kinsel and Samuel Sandoval are the other remaining Code Talkers.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan assigned August 14 as the Navajo Code Talkers Day. Then in 2014, the State of Arizona passed legislation that every Aug. 14 will be Navajo Code Talkers Day. The 29 Navajo citizens who developed the code were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2001 . The ones who followed in their footsteps received the Congressional Silver Medal.
The August 14 groundbreaking celebration will feature a ceremony and parade on the grounds.
