Chester Nez- An American Hero

   “I’m so happy I got to serve my country as a code talker.” Chester Nez said on November 11, 2013 at Wausau East High School. Chester Nez is 93 year old man that could be considered an American hero. Nez was of 29 Navajo men that helped create the code for Americans during WWII. These code talkers served four years in the Pacific talking to each other in this very secret code. Chester fought on Guadalcanal, Bougainvillea, Guam, Peleliu, and Angaur Islands. The Americans were having trouble coming up with a code that the Japanese couldn’t break. After trying about everything, the Americans asked for the Navajos help. The reason the Americans thought that the Navajo language would be perfect is because it was never written down. Which is why it is the only unbroken code in modern warfare. Nez grew up on the Navajo reservation. From the age of five he herded sheep with his family. During the presentation he said that he missed herding sheep the most when away at war. A connection between Louie Zamperini and Chester Nez is they both know how to forgive. Louie forgave the Japanese prisoner guards from the POW camps and Chester Nez forgave the American government after they killed about half of his grandparents sheep. In the past people didn’t allow the Navajo to speak their language but now we look back on that and see how foolish that was of us considering their language helped us win the war against the Japanese.