Samuel Tso, a Navajo code talker who served during World War II, will host a presentation about his experiences at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, in Hitchcock Auditorium. The event is free, and the public is welcome.
Code talker is a term associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater.
An estimated 400 Navajos agents were trained to use the code, and around 300 saw action in the field. Speaking Navajo and using an additional code within that, they were able to convey information and orders among Marine units and Navy warships and aircraft.
More than 450 frequently used military terms were given Navajo equivalents. For example, dah-he-tih-hi was the Navajo word for hummingbird that, in the code, became the word for fighter plane. Tso helped develop the code.
The code talkers received no recognition until the declassification of the operation in 1968. In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush personally presented the Congressional Gold Medal to four of five surviving code talkers.
The program is sponsored by the college’s Native American program. For information, call 318-3782.