Last Lakota code talker dies at 86

[TxD]

......Requiescat In Pacem Pvt. Wolf Guts.....

May we never forget your contributions to our freedom.

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/ar ... 002e0.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[joe817]

[TxD]

These guys were truly amazing.
They had three different words for each letter of the english alphabet and a single messege could be sent in infinate ways in a language that by and large had no written history.

http://www.californiaindianeducation.or ... lkers.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Exerpt from link:
"When a Navajo code talker received a message, what he heard was a string of seemingly unrelated Navajo words. The code talker first had to translate each Navajo word into its English equivalent. Then he used only the first letter of the English equivalent in spelling an English word. Thus, the Navajo words "wol-la-chee" (ant), "be-la-sana" (apple) and "tse-nill" (axe) all stood for the letter "a." One way to say the word "Navy" in Navajo code would be "tsah (needle) wol-la-chee (ant) ah-keh-di- glini (victor) tsah-ah-dzoh (yucca)." "

[Purplehood]

If I had been on Iwo JIma I would have been translating OMG OMG OMG into Navajo. Repeatedly.

I knew a young Hopi girl that was a Marine on Okinawa. I got the impression from her that code-talkers were not just Navajo. I could be wrong, it was 30+ years ago.

[TxD]

If I had been on Iwo JIma I would have been translating OMG OMG OMG into Navajo. Repeatedly.

I knew a young Hopi girl that was a Marine on Okinawa. I got the impression from her that code-talkers were not just Navajo. I could be wrong, it was 30+ years ago.

You are correct.
The Navajo were the first; suggested and recruited by a missionary.

"The 450 Navajo code talkers were the most famous group of Native American soldiers to radio messages from the battlefields, but 15 other tribes used their languages to aid the Allied efforts in World War II.
Wolf Guts was one of 11 Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Native American code talkers from South Dakota."

[Purplehood]

If I had been on Iwo JIma I would have been translating OMG OMG OMG into Navajo. Repeatedly.

I knew a young Hopi girl that was a Marine on Okinawa. I got the impression from her that code-talkers were not just Navajo. I could be wrong, it was 30+ years ago.

You are correct.
The Navajo were the first; suggested and recruited by a missionary.

"The 450 Navajo code talkers were the most famous group of Native American soldiers to radio messages from the battlefields, but 15 other tribes used their languages to aid the Allied efforts in World War II.
Wolf Guts was one of 11 Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Native American code talkers from South Dakota."

Doh! The Lakota part didn't even ring a bell with me. My little brother would have a fit for me not remembering as he is an Indian Shaman.