The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. His name wasn’t Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought to rid him of his culture and traditions. But discrimination didn’t stop Chester from answering the call to defend his country after Pearl Harbor, for the Navajo have always been warriors, and his upbringing on a New Mexico reservation gave him the strength—both physical and mental—to excel as a marine. During World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific. INCLUDES THE ACTUAL NAVAJO CODE AND RARE PICTURES

Navajo code talker and U.S. Marine, Talking Boy Gorman, lies wounded and alone as the WWII fight for Iwo Jima explodes all around. Pain drives his urgent need to discover why Vargas, his own bodyguard, tries to kill him. He remembers the frequently told stories of his great grandparents, Juanito and Hunts Quail, and how Juanito’s half-brother and mortal enemy murdered Hunts Quail just as she gave life to his own grandfather on the Long Walk. In the morphine haze, Talking Boy hears these same old stories of the Navajo Nation during the U.S. army’s recent attempts to exterminate an entire people. He tries to imitate Juanito’s mountain cry, “I shall surrender never!” but knows that, by joining the marines, somehow, he’s already given up something sacred. In a letter in his mind he asks his sweetheart, Penny Joe, “how come I change flags so easily?” Talking Boy radios his Indian language code which helps save a nation at war and hears the sing-song words among flying bombs and bullets. He faces Varga’s revenge and unravels the mystery of family hate. In the end, he discovers the secret which drives him and all of the Navajo Code Talkers to war. “With Code Talker Ivon Blum tells the largely unsung story of bilingual heroes and WWII—draftees of the much-maligned Navajo nation who used their own tongue to transmit top-secret battlefield messages to outwit Japanese forces. Blum’s compelling characters keep the action coming and the suspense high while weaving in Navajo history, life and spiritual beliefs.” Vicki Leon, author of 40 books of historical detection, including 4000 Years of Uppity Women and 2013’s The Joy of Sexus—.

'Readers who choose the book for the attraction of Navajo code talking and the heat of battle will come away with more than they ever expected to find.'—Booklist, starred review Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years. But now Joseph Bruchac brings their stories to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker. His grueling journey is eye-opening and inspiring. This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults 'Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring..'—School Library Journal From the Trade Paperback edition.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The code-talker paradox is an issue in linguistics that brings into question some fundamental ideas of the nature of languages. Specifically, the fact that language can both facilitate and block communication. This term, coined by Mark Baker raises the issue of how Philip Johnston and the code talker were able to communicate in a way such that human beings created references that were mutually intelligible to each other but completely unintelligible to everyone who was not familiar with the structure and meaning of the signals.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 24. Chapters: Navajo language, Code talker, Navajo phonology, Southern Athabascan grammar, Lipan Apache people, Jicarilla language, Mescalero-Chiricahua language, Lipan language, KMYN, Tonto Apache people, Western Apache language, Berard Haile, Plains Apache language, Navajo Language Academy. Excerpt: Navajo or Navaho (native name: Dine bizaad) is an Athabaskan language (of Na-Dene stock) spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages (the majority of Athabaskan languages are spoken in northwest Canada and Alaska). Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the U.S.-Mexico border, with 170,717 self-reported speakers in 2007, and this number has increased with time. The American Community Survey of 2007 reported 170,717 speakers of Navajo, making it the only Native American language to warrant a separate line in the statistical tables. The majority of speakers live on the Navajo Nation. Of these, 2.9% were monolingual with no knowledge of English. The four metro- and micropolitan areas with the largest number of speakers were Farmington (16.5%), Gallup (12%), Flagstaff (10.3%), and Albuquerque (5.4%). A number of bilingual immersion schools operate within Navajo-speaking regions to preserve and promote usage of the language. The following table lists the consonants of Navajo in the standard orthography, followed by their pronunciation in IPA notation in brackets: In Navajo orthography, the letter represents two different sounds: it is pronounced when stem initial and when prefixal or stem/word final. However, when is preceded by it is always written as and never as so that it will not be confused with (e.g. 'I'm turning around,' but never ). The consonant is written as before front vowels and (where it is palatalized ), as..

A history of America in World War II is told through the lives of an ethnically diverse group of ordinary Americans struggling for equality at home and fighting for freedom overseas. Takaki's revealing book shows that there were more struggles--and more victories--during WWII than most people ever imagined. 37 photos.