Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII

This is a remarkable story centered on the intriguing life of a World War II U.S. Marine veteran who was skilled and dedicated enough to earn a place among the so-called Navajo code talkers. In my years long fascination with the Allied fight against the Axis powers, only brief if any mention of these brave men was typically made. In this fascinating book, the reader is invited to come along with the author and his compatriots into some of the most fiercely fought combat in the Pacific Islands, including Guadalcanal, Guam and Peleliu.Mr. Nez’s story includes detailed descriptions of his upbringing in New Mexico and deep cultural heritage. The reader is brought into a world alive with a stunning appreciation and respect for nature, ancestral customs and unshakable lifelong responsibility.Code talkers like Mr. Nez were a vital asset during a war that placed extreme importance on the transmission of key strategic information, including enemy troop movements and threats. We are all in his debt, not only for his stunning bravery, but for having the wherewithal to tell his unique story in riveting detail.This is truly a book for the ages.

A great insight to the good, the bad, and the ugly facts about the war, Navajo life and a man's love for the country of his Navajo Nation. Great read. Some very tough moments in the war in the Pacific. Glad I read it.The Code Talkers made a valuable contribution to the war effort. Their story has not been told enough. !

This is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in this topic or certainly the history of the war. The code talkers were neglected for so many years - and one could certainly digress as to why, but that is fodder for another day. This memoir is a good start on the road to rectifying that wrong.The memoir could have concentrated just on the war years, but that would have been a mistake. Any good historian knows, as the late R.G.L. Waite used to say, that in order to study World War II you must look back as far as possible. And in order to look back at the late Mr. Nez's experience in the war, it is imperative that he fully discuss his life with the reader- which he wisely did in this volume. We are introduced to his life before the war - beginning as a young child, including when he was forced to attend boarding school for many years, away from his family, where English was rammed down his throat and his native language was forbidden. If you are unfamiliar with the legalized repression of the Navajo culture in American history, this is yet another reason why you absolutely must read this book.It is perfectly understandable why it was co-written by a professional writer, who spent countless hours interviewing him in depth. Our code talker never pretended to be a professional writer, nor should he have spent years writing a memoir at his advanced age. I am sure he had better things to do. His co-writer was smart in that she allowed him to retain his voice almost always throughout the book. You note that I said "almost always." There are times in the book - even sentences and paragraphs - where it is clear that the writing is in an entirely different voice, and as an experienced reader that may jangle your nerves. Their editors should have caught that and fixed it.However, any memoir that is cowritten with a professional writer usually has this as an Achilles heel, and one must suppress one's perfectionism as a reader because the story itself is so compelling. Certainly the story within Code Talkers is extraordinarily compelling and the writing, quite good. I read it very quickly within a couple of days - and you probably will as well. I recommend it highly.

I enjoyed this book. I love history especially ww2.

The code talker view of his own life.

Code Talker tells facts about WWII that many, myself included, had no clue about it. It is a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and you will too.

Awesome read

After being treated horrendously like a sub-human at two different "boarding horror schools" while he was a child, Nez's culture as a Navajo was facing genocide. Beaten daily, feed little, forced to follow english commands that they did not understand since they weren't taught english and punished for not following the command, and a whole host of violations that would today place the boarding school tyrant "matrons" in jails for very long periods of time and catch the attention of UN Unicef's, America's child protective services and a myriad of government protective agencies and organizations.In a stroke of hypocrisy, under the suggestion of a military man who had spend time with the Navajo, the Marines looked to Nez to speak the language that he had been so forcefully and cruelly forbidden to, in order to serve his country and protect it from tyranny. The other armed branches skeptical of the Navajo "code" were reluctant to switch to it from an elaborate and archaic coding system which took up valuable time in the combat field, where time lost quite literally translated to men lost and friendly fire incidents prevailed, but the marines flirted with the idea. Once marine Generals saw that the old coding communications took four hours to transmit a communication and the Navajos took two minutes to accurately convey the same message, misgivings were set aside and the Navajo were brought in to save American lives and end the war as quickly as possible to save Japanese lives as well.Nez witnessing of his fellow marines die and suffer, on the battle field and in the hospital as well as several of his fellow Navajo code talkers, was trial enough. Nez had to nonstop transmit critically important messages all throughout the day on the battlefield, having to change sites after every transmission, while gunfire, mortar, grenades and various artillery is going off around them and coming down on them. Furthermore, the Navajos Marine commanders deemed their mission too important to permit the overworked Navajo marines to go on break like all of their fellow battle weary and fatigued Marines. The Navajos never questioned their duty. The Navajo code talkers diffused many of their anxieties with their classic Navajo humor. Nez's trails would not end there though. After committing the most anxiety provoking task since he'd had been in the trenches of asking a woman's family for permission to marry then marrying his third girlfriend, the one he wanted to spend the majority of his time with, then having a un Navajo weeding at a catholic church, Nez's wife gives birth to a girl. Nez's wife lives but the girl that Nez had been dreaming of perishes after only an hour of life in the hospital. Nez is devastated that he lost a daughter that is so highly valued in Navajo culture, even more so than sons sometimes. Nezs trails continue. After having a son with his wife, who is from another tribe, the son missteps off a train and dies. When Nez's other son runs out to him at his home in Albuquerque, Nez's wife restrains him and tells him that his father needs to be alone. Nez tries to dry his tears from the double death of two of his children before his son runs up to him. Nez's trails continue. After his 21 year old son is partying with his friends, he gets into a car with a drunk friend and his killed when the drunk friend crashes the car into anther car that had been chasing them. Nez's trials continue. Late in Nez's life, after moving from his home in Albuquerque where he was living while he lost three of his children, Nez outlives his daughter. In addition to the battlefield scars that Nez faces, he also had to live with the death of four children, but he handled all of this with the Navajo ideal of balance, not falling prey to the perils of alcohol like several of his fellow code talkers later do. Nez constantly quoted the famous Navajo saying of "Beauty in front of me, beauty behind me, beauty to the left of me, beauty to the right of me." Besides inventing an unbreakable code, this story is a tale of Navajo stamina and strengths triumphing over painstaking grief.Nez had to also deal with the changing generations of Navajos, many who did not respect or value the ways that he had been shown by his family members. Nez liked a girl very much but because she was in one of the five tributes at the time associated with his own, he could not pursue her. As Nez wrote the book, it was not uncommon for current Navajo to marry a tribal half sister. As Nez is trying to rid himself of the nightmares of Japanese attackers that plague his mind through a ceremony, the Navajos giving the ceremony do not follow the guidelines that had been observed in his previous ceremony to rid him of these demons of negative lingering spirits. As a snake entered the building of the ceremony, the man entrusted with guarding the door kills the snake rather then redirecting it, as it is incorrect to kill anything without using it, thus spoiling the ceremony. Furthermore, at night several of the Navajo involved in the ceremony choose to drink alcohol, which is strictly forbidden during such a ceremony. Only through the family's quick action is Nez's family able to quickly organize and execute another ceremony to redo the damage done in this ceremony, is Nez able to rid himself of the symptoms associated with PTSD.

Chester Nez made amazing contributions to the war effort. All Indigenous code talkers should be recognized for their work for the allies. This book should be in everyone's personal collection. Thank you code talkers.

The book revealed exactly what the title said. Along with many photos I enjoyed it thoroughly and as a WWII history buff I was very pleased with this book

This is a well-written account of the way that the language of the Navajo Indians formed the basis of a code to encipher secret messages. Despite the efforts of the Germans the code proved unbreakable. The book is written by a man belonging to the Navajo Indian tribe who was in the navy and whose identity was kept secret. I give it five stars because of the unique and authentic story, and because of the quality of the writing, but I confess that it went on a little too long for me and I skipped the last part.

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo...Chester Nez ok, welldone ok ok ok

Loved this book, from start to finish. It is well written, and is easy to read, and hard to put down. Anyone who has an interest in learning about the Codetalkers, will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.