CODE TALKER

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac - Code Talker is a fictional account of true events that happened to Navajo Indians in the first half of the twentieth century. This is the story of a Navajo boy who is sent to boarding school in order to unlearn his Navajo language and ways. Then, when he is a teenager, he and other Navajos are recruited by the United States Marine Corps to study and develop a code that our enemies in WWII won't be able to understand or decipher. The code, as you may have guessed, was composed of words from the Navajo language. The second half of the book is about the character's war experiences in the South Pacific. It's about storming small islands under Japanese fire and what it's like to live under those conditions. The author is a historian so the book is loaded with interesting information and details. The Navajo are a gentle, poetic, nature inspired people. Yet, they sent their sons into war. War is so unnecessary and so cruel and so wrong on so many levels, and it still occurs. And is sanctioned by our own government! It is beyond my comprehension that a government could send human beings into situations where they will be killed. For nothing. Unbelievable. I digress. Code Talker is a good Navajo Indian, World War II read.