Rep. Jamie Allard: Navajo and Tlingit code talkers, and our duty to honor and remember

By REP. JAMIE ALLARD

On August 14, Americans observe National Navajo Code Talkers Day, honoring the Native warriors whose voices became one of our nation’s most effective weapons during World War II.

President Ronald Reagan established the observance in 1982 to recognize the Navajo Marines who developed and used a military code based on their Native language, Diné Bizaad. The code allowed American forces to transmit vital battlefield messages rapidly and securely throughout the Pacific. The Japanese never broke it.

The story of the Navajo Code Talkers is one of ingenuity, courage and patriotism.

Yet, It is also an Alaska story.

Alaska’s Tlingit Code Talkers served in the same great Native American military tradition. During World War II, Tlingit servicemen used their ancestral language to communicate sensitive information that enemy forces could not decipher.

Among those later recognized for this remarkable service were Robert “Jeff” David Sr. of Haines, Richard Bean Sr. of Hoonah, George Lewis Jr., and brothers Harvey Jacobs and Mark Jacobs Jr. of Southeast Alaska. Louis Onee Minard was more recently recognized as a sixth Tlingit Code Talker.

Some served in the Pacific, including the Philippines and the South Pacific. Others served closer to Alaska, helping protect the Aleutian Islands and our own northern homeland during the only foreign occupation of American soil since the War of 1812.

For decades, many Code Talkers said little or nothing about what they had done. Their work was classified, and their sense of duty did not end when they took off the uniform. They carried the secret home and quietly returned to their families, communities and occupations.

They did not seek attention, nor did they demand recognition. They simply kept their word.

That kind of character is familiar to many of us in Eagle River.

Our community has deep ties to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and to every branch of the United States military. Our neighbors include active duty service members, veterans, military spouses and children who understand that service is rarely carried by one person alone. When a member of the military answers the call, an entire family sacrifices.

This is true of many communities throughout Alaska, where military history runs in our veins.

In Eagle River, the military is not an abstract institution or a distant part of government. It is woven into our schools, churches, businesses and neighborhoods. We know the empty chair at the dinner table during a deployment. We know the uncertainty of new orders and the difficulty of saying goodbye. We also know the pride of welcoming a loved one home.

National Navajo Code Talkers Day gives us an opportunity to honor that tradition of service while remembering Alaska’s place within it.

The Code Talkers were members of the Greatest Generation, whose ranks are now fading into history. With each passing year, fewer remain to tell us firsthand what they saw, what they endured and what they sacrificed.

Soon, their stories will belong entirely to us.

That creates a solemn responsibility. We must teach our children that freedom was not handed down to us without cost. It was defended by men and women who left their homes, crossed oceans and placed their lives in danger to defeat fascism and liberate people they had never met.

The Code Talkers showed us that defending freedom requires more than military strength. It requires intelligence, discipline, trust and a willingness to place the good of the nation ahead of oneself. They showed us that America’s diversity is not a weakness to be overcome, but a strength that can help preserve the country in its darkest hour.

They also taught us something essential about human dignity.

These men served a nation that had not always treated their people justly. Yet when America called, they answered. They used the languages of their ancestors to defend the freedoms of future generations. Their patriotism was not blind to the nation’s faults. It was rooted in the belief that America was worth defending and capable of becoming better.

Today, let us remember the Navajo Marines whose unbreakable code helped turn the tide in the Pacific. Let us also remember the Tlingit Code Talkers of Alaska and the Native warriors from many tribes who placed their unique knowledge in the service of our country.

Let us honor the Greatest Generation while we still have the privilege of hearing some of their voices.

And let us make this promise, Their courage will not be forgotten. Their sacrifice will not be taken for granted. The freedom and human dignity they defended will remain our responsibility to preserve.

Jamie Allard represents Chugiak-Eagle River District 23 in the Alaska House of Representatives. She is a US Army veteran.