Chester Nez: The Honor and Pride of Being One of the First 29 Code Talkers

"I am so proud and so happy to be able to say I was in WWII," says Chester Nez, 93, the last living of the original 29 WWII code talkers. Mr. Nez said numerous times throughout the presentation how incredibly proud he was to serve his country. At a young age, Mr. Nez was stripped of his Navajo herittage and forced to speak English at the boarding school he attended. He described his home as being the only place he could truly be himself, the only place he could speak in his native tongue. After being recruited by the Marine Corps and completing boot camp, him and the other 28 Navajo men were informed of their mission; to make an unbreakable code. The men then devised a code, the only unbroken code in modern warfare. This was truly a huge turning point in history. This code allowed them to share messages with their fellow marines without the Japanese cracking them. "They treated us like brothers," said Chester Nez, referring to the marines he worked with. I can surely imagine why Mr. Nez is so proud. Like him, my veteran was also very proud to serve our country. No matter your role, there has to be a strong amount of pride knowing that you fought for the freedom of millions. A few questions I had during the interview were; Did the Japanese know that the Navajo were the ones who devised the code? And if so, would they have been able to crack it?