Keith Little at 87 years of age
You don't know his name or any of the other Navajo Code Talkers from WWII, but you do know their story and what they accomplished. Keith Little, one of the remaining surviving Codetalkers, passed away on Tuesday. There are now only 3 Navajo codetalkers left.
Keith was only 17 years old when he joined the Marine Corps and was trained as a Codetalker.
The Codetalkers were from many Native American nations and started in WWI with the Choctaw language. However, it was the use of Navajo in WWII that may have changed the entire outcome of the war. The Japanese were unable to break the code. Astonishingly, once a word was used as code over the radio it was NEVER USED AGAIN. The code proved infallible.
"The Navajo code talkers were commended for their skill, speed and accuracy accrued throughout the war. At the Battle of Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the first two days of the battle. These six sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. Connor later stated, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.""
Keith Little's dream was a museum to honor the memory of the Navajo in WWII and his surviving relatives say they will continue to pursue this with a museum in Arizona.
The Navajo nation will be celebrating Mr. Little's life today and tomorrow at his funeral. Flags are flying half-staff until Sunday in his honor.
Keith Little News Article
Wiki Article on the use of Navajo Language
And the saddest news of the day comes from the Amazon. This is unconscionably sick. Brazilian loggers killed an 8 year old girl by tying her to a tree and setting her on fire.
"Loggers in Brazil who had illegally entered an Amazon Indian reserve captured an eight-year-old indigenous girl and burned her alive, it was claimed today.
The child, who belonged to the isolated Gwaja-Awa tribe, is believed to have wandered away from her village to play and got lost in the forest."
This story doesn't deserve to be covered up, so we are posting it here. We may never know this little girl's name but we mourn her no less. May she rest in peace.
And may the men who did this burn in hell.
News Article
Keith was only 17 years old when he joined the Marine Corps and was trained as a Codetalker.
The Codetalkers were from many Native American nations and started in WWI with the Choctaw language. However, it was the use of Navajo in WWII that may have changed the entire outcome of the war. The Japanese were unable to break the code. Astonishingly, once a word was used as code over the radio it was NEVER USED AGAIN. The code proved infallible.
"The Navajo code talkers were commended for their skill, speed and accuracy accrued throughout the war. At the Battle of Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the first two days of the battle. These six sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. Connor later stated, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.""
Keith Little's dream was a museum to honor the memory of the Navajo in WWII and his surviving relatives say they will continue to pursue this with a museum in Arizona.
The Navajo nation will be celebrating Mr. Little's life today and tomorrow at his funeral. Flags are flying half-staff until Sunday in his honor.
Keith Little News Article
Wiki Article on the use of Navajo Language
And the saddest news of the day comes from the Amazon. This is unconscionably sick. Brazilian loggers killed an 8 year old girl by tying her to a tree and setting her on fire.
"Loggers in Brazil who had illegally entered an Amazon Indian reserve captured an eight-year-old indigenous girl and burned her alive, it was claimed today.
The child, who belonged to the isolated Gwaja-Awa tribe, is believed to have wandered away from her village to play and got lost in the forest."
This story doesn't deserve to be covered up, so we are posting it here. We may never know this little girl's name but we mourn her no less. May she rest in peace.
And may the men who did this burn in hell.
News Article
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