The Forgivness of Chester Nez

Forgiveness!  This is something that is done to help the guilt of another, giving you the strength to let go of the past.  I believe that this was the lesson that was learned during our trip to meet Chester Nez, the World War II cold talker.  Growing up, Chester’s life was anything but easy.  This was taught to Chester at a young age during boarding school.  The boarding school believed that is was wrong for Chester to speak his native language so the school punished him severely for it.  I find this very ironic because later in his life, he received a gold medal, from the president himself for his hard work as a code talker, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  When Chester was about halfway through his treacherous years in boarding school, he was taken from his home in New Mexico to a Marine camp without a word to his parents about the journey.  Upon reaching the camp, Chester, and twenty-nine other men, were given a secret mission.  Make a secret code.  Now I’m not talking about your everyday ordinary code, I’m talking about a code so secret and so difficult that not even the world’s smartest men can crack it.  Chester and the other 29 men were up to the challenge.  They came up with the only code, in all of World War II that was never cracked.  As Chester said, “I am very proud to say that I was one of the 29 who developed the code.”  After this, the code was put into action.  It was used in battles such as the Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, and Peleliu, the bloodiest battle of the war.  This code is considered to be one of the main reasons that America won this war.  If, it weren’t for Chester and the code talkers, we might not be the country we are today.  This is true for everyone who participated in World War II or any war for that matter.  So always remember, feel proud to thank and veteran when you see them.