Ned Begay grew up attending Catholic schools just off the reservation. It was very hard to practice his Indian beliefs, including his native language, in a boarding school run by Whites. There, he was taught that Navajo is a useless language and that their people are worthless. Ned learned the 'White man' ways very quickly, but also kept his native culture alive within himself. Then, Ned and many other Navajo men were recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending secret messages during World War II in their native tongue. Ned went on to fight in many of the major Pacific battles using the code based on the Navajo language. The 'code talkers' code was never broken by the Japanese. There was also a movie made based on the Navajo role in WWII called The Windtalkers.
Similar books: Unsung Heroes of World War II: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers by Deanne Durrett
Date read: 4/28/2009
ISBN-10: 0803729219
ISBN-13: 9780803729216
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