Veteran deciphers mystery of Navajo code
Samuel Holiday used his native language to help fellow Marines.

Helena Begaii has traveled with her father for three years, but she still beams as she listens to him recount his World War II experiences.

Begaii seemed to hang on Samuel Tom Holiday's every word Thursday as he described his once-secret mission in the Pacific.

Holiday, 81, was one of about 400 Navajos trained by the Marines to use their native language as an unbreakable combat code.

Holiday grew up on a Navajo reservation in Utah, herding sheep with his family until he was sent to a boarding school at age 12.

At school, Holiday was forbidden to speak Navajo as he struggled to learn English, he said. Holiday called his first year at the school the hardest of his life because he often was punished for speaking his native language.

Holiday got a different reception after he volunteered for the Marines at 19 in 1943.

He was transferred to Camp Pendleton in California after completing basic training so he and other Navajos could learn the code used to baffle the Japanese for the rest of the war.

Unlike other languages, Navajo is unwritten and virtually impossible for adults to learn, Holiday said. Each syllable carries meaning that can be changed by its intonation.

Holiday said the training lasted about three months. Half of that time was spent in school and half on combat training.

"From there, we went straight into the war, he said.

Holiday described some of his battlefield experiences to a group of fellow Marines in Oklahoma City. He spoke Thursday at a luncheon hosted by the Sooner Detachment of the Marine Corps League, U.S. Marine Corps Coordinating Council of Oklahoma and the Women's Marine Association of Oklahoma.

After the war, Holiday and other Navajo code talkers were forbidden from telling anyone about their contributions because the military hoped to save the secret code for use in future wars.

"I was told never to talk about it, the Kayenta, Ariz., resident said. "Not even our families knew about it.

That changed more than a quarter-century later when the military declassified the program, but Begaii said her father still hesitated to talk about his time in the Marines.

He only said he was part of a "secret company sending coded messages, she said.

His cryptic explanation only increased her desire to learn more about his war efforts.

Begaii now travels with her father as he shares his experiences with military groups, museum audiences and school children.

She said too many people don't know how the Navajo code talkers contributed to the war effort.

"My goal is to tell as many people as I can, she said.

Begaii said the government does not have many records about the Navajo contributions during World War II, so the surviving code talkers are left to tell the tale.

She said there only are about 27 code talkers still living among the 280 Navajos who served in combat during the war. Several of their children are working to document their contributions, but Begaii said she has been focusing on her father's story.

Begaii also hopes to gain more information about the code talkers in history books.

"Most of the information about the code talkers is lost, according to the government, she said. "All we have is the men themselves to tell these stories.

Archive ID: 2495369