(dramatic music) (gentle music) - [Narrator] This is a story about a group of Navajo warriors in their twilight years and their confrontation with a past they could no longer ignore. (gentle music) (people chattering) - I'm looking for any
common Navajo names here. (speaking in foreign language) - [Narrator] Members of
America's Greatest Generation, these Marine Corps veterans of World War 2 have earned their country's highest honors in recent years for their roles
in the victory over Japan. (gentle music) Desiring to preserve their legacy, six Navajo Code Talkers agreed to return with younger family members to major battlefields in the Pacific. (gentle music) (people chattering) The unfiltered stories
of these men's memories of World War 2 are told on
five different Pacific islands. The Marine Corps base in California where they learned the code. (speaking in foreign language) And in later conversations in their homes with family members. (people laughing) Now in their own words here
are the personal stories of six Native American
heroes of World War 2. (dramatic music) (gentle music) - [Translator] We have
some anti-aircraft here, there already. - [Narrator] These elderly Code Talkers had serious obstacles to
overcome before they agreed to travel to the other side of the world and revisit what had been
for them, in their youth, places of utter destruction
and unspeakable carnage. (gentle music) - Even before we got to the
island being with my father and watching him, large
quiet overcame him. And when they announced on the aircraft that we were near Mount Suribachi and you could actually see the island, he didn't want to look. He didn't want to look over there and I asked him if he wanted to look and he says, "I've seen it before." And there was a sad look over his face, one of I think he was
remembering exactly what it was when he was feeling when he first arrived. - All it is is still what it
was fought for, an airbase. (gentle music) There's nothin' else. But I think my dad has,
he's still coping with it, he's still dealing with it. And I think that was a big reason why he didn't want to go back. (gentle music) - When I went back over there,
I was looking for something. I was looking for something, how did I ever survive that bloodbath and I came back without a scratch. And a lot of my buddies died there, and some of my buddies that I learned to really, could call my own brothers. And they treated me like that. So that's the reason
why I wanted to go back and see for myself. (gentle music) - I came to that conclusion
about our religion of not going back to it, as a warrior, not going back to where
you fought with the enemy. And I turned, that has
always been on my mind, ever since I came back. You don't go back. The medicine man, the
spiritual advisors are the ones that says they advise against it. - And the medicine man, several of 'em, were saying don't ever talk about it, don't ever think about it to get well. Don't ever go back where
you fought the enemy and that was why when the
call for the Code Talkers to return to the battlefield, I wasn't ready to go, no. As I was you know that, I was in harmony, I'm back home, feel good,
among my Navajo people. Among my relatives, community. And I thought that that
might have another problem if I go back. - I wasn't never, ever gonna go back but since it was for
education then I decided that I would make the
trip, go back over there and see how it comes out and
since we're gonna leave it behind us for the future generation. (gentle music) - [Narrator] All of these
Navajo warriors went into battle with a firm
purpose, to protect the ancient and sacred lands of the
Navajo people ceded to them in the American Southwest by their conquerors, the
United States government. (gentle music) - Here we are, headed for home. - [Narrator] Home for some of
the Navajo nation has not yet been fully defined. (speaking in foreign language) - I think the Navajo people are still here because of their adaptability
to different societies that have come into our
culture and our societies and we still carry our Navajo language, we still have our
ceremonies, so it, you know, it's basically being very adaptable to whatever is brought before
you and you work with it and you walk in here and you can just feel the
spirituality of this canyon. This is Mother Nature at her utmost. (gentle music) - I hope we get our land
back, this is our land. When Kit Carson came he
did a lot of damage to us. (gentle music) We'd like to get it
back and get to give it to our generation and
our family and theirs, that way the land would be still here and the Navajo people will
be still here in the future. - As everybody does say, it is important and if we ever lose this place you know, that will probably be
the end of times, man, 'cause Navajo people will always be here. And this our part of the canyon, but necessarily it's
everybody's part of the canyon, so as long as nobody else
encroaches on this land, tries to take it away from
us, starts to developing, you know, putting cities up. We don't need that here. - We were taught to respect the land, the sun, the moon, more
or less we think of it as our guardians, natural
guardians for our existence. Land is the most important
element of our existence, our survivals, and we stay pretty close to the land because that's
pretty spiritual to us, our religion is that way. It taught us to respect the
nature, what it gives you, what it's gonna do for you,
you makin' a livin' out of it. And you're growing your children and your children grows up
respectin' our own tradition, our own custom. (gentle music) (man whistling) - Go on, inside. - After high school,
our tribal leaders said, it's okay, you go and join the service. You're doing this for your
country, oh, not country, he said you're doin' this for
your land and your people. And with that understood, that I be will doin' it for my
reservation and my family. So oh okay, I'll join. - Something very important. - Well this is really, really something. - Yeah, it's a good part of it, something that should
go into it, you know. - [Keith] I think it's great that we have a memorial like this. - I know how important Code Talkers were, how important they were to the Navajos, how important they were
to the Marine Corps, how important they were
to the United States. And I think that's a tradition that your young people must recognize and most of all, preserve. - [Narrator] Today these Marine
Corps veterans who sought to protect their land
from the Japanese threat in World War 2 are heroes to those who know the story of
the Navajo Code Talkers. In some locations their
image is larger than life. Born in the 1920s the
Navajo Code Talkers grew up in extreme hardship and in
extended families listening and learning from their elders. Most of whom remembered
the end of their struggle against America's frontier army and the brutal long walk into captivity. (gentle music) Despite the Navajo
peoples ultimate failure to prevent the white man's
takeover of their homeland, their young men were raised with pride in their legacy as warriors. - I was raised like a boot
camp and my older brothers, I see them get punished, so
that taught me a lot of things and it helped me a lot in growing up and I always wanted to do
what my older brothers did, what my dad did. But my dad kept me from
doing those things. He always tell me, don't do
that, it's gonna get hurt. But I did them when they were not around. I guess that's another thing that took me to join the armed forces
and defend my land. Not country. So I don't think I'm a hero. I'm a warrior. - I come from a simple home. Very culturally oriented
in the Navajo way. The old stories, the mythologies of our grandparents passed on down. And it was instilled in
my by great-grandfather. And he was a disciplinarian, gotta do what you say. You're not gonna sleep past dawn, get up, you got a world ahead of livin' to live. You gotta learn. My mother wouldn't stand up for me, neither would my father,
go, go, go with him. Very strict grandfather,
great-great-grandfather. He lived to be 109 years
old when he passed away. So what did I do? I says, Grandpa that's for
you, that's not for Sam. So after he left I was already conditioned to join the Marine Corps. (gentle music) - [Narrator] Survival of the Navajo people and their way of life
depended primarily on sheep and sheep need wide
open spaces for grazing. Every child in the family
had responsibilities for the care of the herd. - The sheep, the animals, in particular the sheep is
the backbone of economics, of our economic survival. Ever since we came back from
captivity, even before that. And being raised, walking
after sheep every day, maybe takin' care of the horses, maybe takin' care of the cattle, you kind of treasure them in your heart because that is the prime
economic survival for our people. We were kind of a nomadic people. We move, move, move, for better grass, for greener grass, for water. And it's always for our animals to eat somethin' good that we move around. And also keep the land
from being overgrazed. And when we make use of our animal, we eat it, almost everything. (gentle music) - [Narrator] Some families
realized that an education for their children at one of the English language
schools could help them escape the hard life on the reservation. Navajo children had two
educational choices, boarding schools run by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, an arm of the Federal Government or schools operated by
Christian religions. (gentle music) - I went away to school
when I was about 10 or 12, somewhere around there. I left my home and went to school because my brother came back
one day and he dress real well, clean, white shirt and I wanted to be like him so I went to school. - Because I didn't go to school,
I had to live by the sheep, by crops, by farming up here in my land. (gentle music) I didn't know nothin' about
outside world when I was 14. And then they put me in
school in Chinle, Arizona. But the first year I didn't
go because it's full already, then second year I didn't go again because of the place for
students are already full. And the third time, I got into school and there was so they don't know my name, because Navajo is not written. And when I came to school, they told me you cannot
speak Navajo in classroom. You have to speak English. How in the world I going speak English I don't know
nothing about English. - I went to a mission school. A Methodist oriented school for 12 years. Studied the Bible in classwork, they don't do that anymore in any school. The Holy Book. That's the way I was raised in school, nine months out of the year for 12 years. There again I got called in. My grandfather was still livin' then. And so I'll go back to my elders and tell them what the school taught me in the Christianity way. See there's two cultures I got caught in. So which one do I choose? Just walk in between. - When I got sent off to high school, I never went back home because my parents were so poor, they couldn't come pick me up, I stayed at the school all four years. And I worked as a sheep herder for the government during the summer. That's how come I stayed over there. Right after graduation, when
we finished high school, my parents didn't come over. Some of the other people
that I graduate with, their parents came, but
me, I was all alone. And I thought the Federal Government would take me back home,
but they never did. They only told me that there's
a road down that way. You go down there. There's cities down there
you find job down there. So I just pack up my suitcase
and went down the road. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] When war came
on December 7th, 1941, the repercussions were felt even on the remote Navajo reservation where some tribe members quickly enlisted. Every young Navajo knew the stories of their ancestors mistreatment
by the US government. But this didn't seem to matter after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. - The old men with white hair, gray hair, they were coming to the trading post with bow and arrows and .22 rifle. They wanted to go to
war and fight the Japs and save their land and
I had the same idea, that I want to help save my land as being a Navajo we respect
a lot about our Mother Earth. We always speak of our land as a mother. - When Pearl Harbor was hit, December 7th, 1941 I was only 14. That's when I had that hate got into me and I wanted to get even with the Japanese and I wanted to join the armed forces and by lookin' at the movies, I decided to join the Marine Corps. I'm supposed to be fighting
for my land and my people and I didn't want to be a draft dodger so as soon as the draft board called me, I just went over there
and they just told me, you go there and you go there. You go this way and I found
out, you don't have no choice. - [Narrator] At the
recruit depot in San Diego, the young Navajos easily
handled boot camp's physical and mental challenges. - Right away, as soon as they swore us in, they say, attention! And I looked around and I
said, damn you stupid Indian. They said, Attention! Oh, I supposed to obey everything here. And then I found out that what was called, you were given an order,
you obey the order. I found out a lot of
young men they didn't want to obey the orders and they
were kicked out of Marines. They get mad and fight back and then I found out that's the
way the Marine Corps work. They break you down to almost nothin' and build you up to become
a self-disciplined person. - [Narrator] The new
marines had no inkling of the special role the
corps had in mind for them. While the young Navajo recruits trained, behind the scenes at newly
opened Camp Pendleton, officers experimented with
the use of the Navajo language as a way of communicating
on the battlefield. Creating a Navajo based code was the idea of a minister's son, who had grown up on the Navajo reservation and spoke the complex
and unwritten language. When boot camp ended the
hopes of these new marines for quick placement into battlefield units that would fight the Japs were ignored. - When I did join, finally after two years of trying, I wanted to be a pilot, I wanted to fly so I
can get even with them. I passed the aptitude test
after boot camp graduation. That's when they asked me if I'm a Navajo. I say, yes sir. I didn't have a choice anymore. - [Narrator] Their destination was not to be a distant Pacific island but rather a secret training
space at Camp Pendleton. - When I went to school they told me not to speak my own language and when I did speak my own
language they used to punish me. 13 years later, they ask
me to use my language and I asked that question,
you told me to forget it, how come you want it. And then that's the time
they start saying please, we need you. We need you for your language. - [Man] Right there. - [Narrator] While the new
Marines learned the Navajo code along with the other
traditional communications codes and equipment, the American
military was beginning its island hopping
campaign in the Pacific. - [Sam] The radio that
I carried was light. - I don't remember the model number, was it SCX or SCY or something. - It was TBY. No,
- No. - TBY, yes. - TBY is the one that you crank, isn't it? - No, TBX is the one you crank. - I don't like TBX because I had to, - [All] Crank. - TBY you had to strap it on
your back and you carry it. - 1943, sometime in August I
came to Camp Pendleton. When I came here, my language, my Navajo language,
it do not have an alphabet. We cannot write down our
language and we cannot read it. So when they invented this code they used the English alphabets, they gave a certain
word to the ABCs there. And then as I looked at it and
found out that they have divided all those ABCs according to the animals that live in the water,
travel on the water, that flew in the air, and those animals that live on the land. So they divided into three parts. Take for instance, the letter A. They gave the name to the letter A, ant. It starts with an A. And then since it's not
written in Navajo you have to know it and decode those in your head. You can't write the Navajo language. You just write it into English. B is for bear, (speaking
in foreign language). And that code word comes in as (speaking in foreign language). Then you decode it into
English ant and bear. And you only use the first letter of those words to spell out the message. And they used to call it
(speaking in foreign language). That's bomb. And I heard that some of the, one guy that was captured
on a Philippine island, he was a Navajo and the Japanese found out that he was Navajo and they tried to make him interpret all this. He understood what (speaking
in foreign language) is that's eggs. And so he totally understand that, it sounds like their havin'
breakfast over there. Fried eggs. (audience laughing) And yet they order bombs on them. - Navajo Code Talker had
developed their own language, coded language. It is, it works so fast because the accuracy, the speed of the message and the accuracy plays
a real prominent role. You know that in battle, some
of you have been in battle, and when you're accurate, when your fast, and streamline, you're savin' lives. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] All of the Navajo
Code Talkers were trained, first of all as riflemen, and they put their lives on
the line in every battle. (dramatic drumming music) They were involved in every
major Pacific island landing from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. (gentle music) - So I never whined about
bein' tired or bein' pooped out or whatever or loss of sleep or anything. The thing that you're doin' is you know that you're in a heck of a situation and you could lose your life anytime. So you're on the alert all the time. When you're out here you know
that you're gonna go up to the fightin' area and you know that wherever
you are gonna get it. You're gonna get some kind
of shelling of some kind or maybe a sniper is hanging
in the tree close to you so you're always kind of have that feelin' that you must be safe where you are. And if you're gonna
walk from here to there, get ready to dive anytime. - Bein' young and knowin'
that you're in the war, you don't feel those things, you're not sorry about
bein' tired or anything, you're never tired. And you don't care to sleep for nights til you're given the opportunity, usually from your
partner on the radio set, he can say go ahead, sleep a little bit. So you take turns sleepin' a little bit. 30 minutes, that's enough to go
another two, three nights. That's the way it is bein'
young and knowin' that you're in the combat and you want to do things to save your life (laughs). - I was prepared, when I
left home and every time I was assigned certain
hazardous stops or spots, I was ready for it. Your main objective is
always in your mind. Sometimes you're on edge but
you adjust yourself to it. It's just like a rifle,
rapid firing rifle, gets hot, cools off, ready to go again. - Even when we ran
across the Death Valley, oh my goodness, when we were told to run across Death Valley, we stood in line, in column,
when they gave the signal to cross, I start goin' across there, there's a lot of boulders here and there. When I cleared that
boulders, oh my goodness, I ran into a whole bunch
of Marines shot down and some of them were still
layin' on top of each other. And some of them even
reach out and says, help! And the buddy that I was
assigned with we tried to help, and Sergeant Thomas scream at us, you complete your mission first! So we just kept on going. Those people that are wounded there, there are guys waiting
right now to pick 'em out, those stretcher bearers
and corpsmen are out there. You do your orders and you get back. (dramatic music) - Most of us were just ordinary Marines. Or ordinary soldiers tryin' to do his job. What the command wants to do,
accomplish certain things, objectives, each day, each hour. And no matter how much you throw a bomb into a piece of land
like Tinian or Saipan, or even Iwo Jima, the ultimate thing is
that the foot soldier, the guy on the ground, with his rifle or every equipment that
he has to carry has to do the cleanup work, the
dirty work of what goes on. War is a real dirty game. - [Narrator] In battle, is was
up to the commanding officer to decide on his method of communication with the individual front line units and the overall operations
command post located behind the lines. (gentle music) In the bloody battle for Iwo Jima, the Navajo code played a major role. - On February 23rd, in the
morning, just about noontime, we were duggin' into the foxhole, we couldn't move forward
while they were tryin' to ask for tank support
or flamethrower support and there's a Marines
there, he had a radio there. And all of a sudden this
message started coming in. And let me repeat those words here, (speaking in foreign language) that's all that go over there. So I wrote it down. Sheep's eye is cured. That's all it said in plain English but what it really meant is, Mount Suribachi is secured, see. And when I finish writing it down, the Marines in the foxhole
said, "What's up Chief?" So I just pointed up there. (dramatic music) And they saw it, oh those
guys just jump right out of their foxhole and
they started cheering. And Sergeant Thomas was still with us and he just growled at us and say, "You damn knotheads, get
back into your foxhole!" And they forgot all that some of these buggers were still flying there and when they saw that, man, that really make the Marines
really enjoy their winning. - If I'm up there, the
seaman officer will tell me to send it a code, Navajo
code, it's always Navajo code. They never used conventional code. (dramatic music) - It's only a little island,
we'll just overrun that thing, look at all these ships comin' in, people, so Marines in there. We'll just run over that
little island and go on home. And I was wrong. Many people ask me if I was scared. (gentle music) I say, yeah I was scared! I don't want to tell no lies, or anything, I was scared, I said. - I know, growing up as a young child, I listened to the stories
that he told me about, and the things that took place out here and I never did realized why
a lot of times he would start into that he'd be getting
very emotional about it. And, I've looked at the
books that were out there, I've listened to the stories,
I've heard about the carnage and the loss of life
that occurred on Iwo Jima and I can only imagine what happened. And to actually go back to this place and to actually see where it all occurred and all the things that, emotions that go with it
were immense yesterday. And as the sun started to set
and we had to leave this area, it was hard for me to actually leave and remove myself from the
area because of the feelings and the thoughts that were running through my mind about that. My emotions were high and
my feelings were high. And I didn't want to leave yet. It felt like there was something
I still needed to do there, something I still needed
to see, to settle my mind because I don't know when I'm
gonna be able to come back and I don't how long I'm
gonna have my father with me because he's getting up there in age. - Well the island of Iwo
Jima has always been just in front of me. My dad was one of the Code Talkers that actually went up Mount
Suribachi during the battle, so I was excited about this trip. And it's unfortunate he didn't make it because it was I think it
would have added so much more for myself and when I start talking to some of the Code Talkers and listening to stories they
were telling on the beach, I kept wishing that my dad came. Because feelings that I
didn't have yesterday, all of a sudden just overwhelmed me. - I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be able to walk up Mount
Suribachi in a peaceful time and I'm grateful for the Marines
that sacrificed their lives but I was really grateful
that there was peace. And that's what came
over me when I came up to the top is that this is peace. - It's not the land, that I once saw. There's a lot of living plants on it. When I came, there was none. Nothing in bloom. (gentle music) - [Narrator] Few of the Navajo Code Talkers became battlefield casualties. - They said a prayer for
me before going overseas, before going into service and my grandpa that did the ceremonial for me when I was dressed in the armor because he told me that he
would make me a warrior and some things happened
to me in the battle that I give him credit for it. That saved my life. - Yeah I don't communicate with my family, my mother and father
when I was in the war. Except my sister and just
very often she writes to me. Seems that I was lost away from my home. And I want to come back. What saved me was when
I was in Fort Wingate in 1942 I broke 440 yard
dash and the State came to be the champion. So I always depend on my
legs, depend on my running. Same with it, same way in the combat. I can run fast! The bullet wouldn't catch me. - One night I dream about
a young Indian meeting came to me and gave me something. He says, here, you wear this,
you will come home to us. I dream about it, and one of my buddies in the foxhole kick me and woke me up. Hey Sam, what's the matter,
you got a nightmare? I woke up, and that dream was so clear in my mind I just sat there. All of a sudden they said, mail call. I don't get no mail from
anybody, my parents, my sisters and brothers, they're uneducated,
they couldn't write to me. One guy by the name of Elton
Mertz come runnin' back, then he says, hey Chief you
got a letter, you got a letter. He came over and there's somethin' in it, we tore open that letter
and there was a Indian made, sort of like a rosary
from Catholic Church, made out of cedar beads
and a cedar cross on it. And then I just looked at it. Who would write to me, no address on it. And then, oh yeah, I'm
supposed to wear this. So I reach over and put it over my neck, just the moment I put
that thing on my neck all fear disappeared and I keep sayin', I'm goin' home, I'm goin' home. - [Narrator] On their
return to Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Okinawa and Iwo Jima,
the elderly marines were forced to confront on each
island negative reminders of the horrific struggle for
supremacy in the Pacific. But they also saw positive
results in the aftermath of the bloody and deadly battles with the Japanese. Results they could not
have imagined from afar. While on these tiny Pacific islands, the Code Talkers began to share
memories with family members who knew nothing about the
realities of their war service. (people chattering)
(gentle music) And they also took time to learn about the war from the Chamorro people. (gentle music) - Since there are many Native Americans and during that time of the war, why did they choose the Navajos? - The language is complex. Difficult to learn and
nobody really knew, in 1940, nobody really knew about the Navajo people because our land was so isolated. There were no telephones,
there were no improved roads, no hospitals, very little hospitals, no church and also very few
people even understood Navajo. We have our language,
just like you people here, you have the names for
every plant that's here, the hills, each one of those
words were given a Navajo name, Navajo code name. And all of us that went to, qualified as Navajo Code Talkers had to memorize the English word
and the Navajo code word. - [Narrator] On the tiny island of Tinian, made famous by the flight of the Enola Gay to Hiroshima in 1945, the Navajo Code Talkers
were heroic visitors. - Was done in such a hurry, a lot of parts were still
not really worked out. Kind of like the engines on the B-29s and so the fusing mechanisms,
they were still working on them in the last week
before they dropped the bomb. - [Narrator] The indigenous
Chamorro people saw them as warriors from a native
culture like their own, who had saved them from
their Japanese masters. And they also saved their land, their language, and their culture. (singing in foreign language) - [Sam] Words were our buddy. - [Woman] So you spelled the words out? - Yes.
- Ah, okay. - Like a I or and E, an eye would be used, and the ear you take the
first letter of each word. (upbeat music) (singing in foreign language) - [Woman] Thank you boys and girls. (audience applauding) - [Keith] That was really
nice, thank you very much. - Thank you.
- Thank you. - And stay in school, get an education, learn to talk Navajo okay. - Due to Marines.
- Marines. (people chattering) ♪ Oh, oh ♪ - [Narrator] On the Japanese
island province of Okinawa, site of the world's
final great land battle, the Navajo Code Talkers were introduced to a conquered native people. A people also in danger
of losing its culture and its language. (singing in foreign language) - Now the destruction of Shuri Castle. Shuri Castle has been abandoned by the Japanese, 32nd Army Headquarters. It's really not being used by anybody at this particular point. For some unknown reason the Navy is told to take Shuri Castle apart but it took two US battleships
sitting off the shore, right over here, three full days to destroy the castle sitting here. What Shuri Castle means
to the Okinawa people is, it shows their independence as a country, and a nation and not Japanese. That's the only reason they rebuilt it. (dramatic music) (speaking in foreign language) - Means goodbye and thank you. (speaking in foreign language) - Japanese say, (speaking in foreign language). - [Man] That's the Japanese. - Yeah (laughing). Our language is not a written,
only a spoken language. - [Man] It's the color. (speaking in foreign language) Of skin color. - Yeah.
- The color is very similar. - Yeah. Almost the same.
- Yeah. - [Man] It's almost the same. - [Narrator] In the weeks
following their return home, the Code Talkers and
their families gathered to discuss their experiences. - Traveling to Guam, Tinian,
Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, there were a lot of
things that I didn't know. One of those was that, how the indigenous people of those islands had survived and the things that they had
to go through as a people and to be able attempt
to preserve their culture and to preserve their land and I have a lot more
respect for the Chamorro and I didn't know that there
was native Okinawan culture and language and that even
though I had spent a year there when I was in the Marine Corps, I didn't take the time
to learn about that. - [Man] This is the
traditional music they played for the king of the RyuKyus. (singing in foreign language) (audience applauding) - I've noticed a big change. My dad talks a lot and you know, I think it kind of allowed him to be able to express himself about that. And I think that it was something that he might have been
holding in for a long time. So I was glad for that. And Snuffy, I mean, Michael.
(all laughing) - AKA. - He and I talk a lot more
and I was really glad when, every time he came back from his trips he would bring stuff over and share it with me and tell me about it. And he was really enthusiastic about it and it's brought us closer together. - Since my dad went over and came back, I think that he has really changed. He, like my sister and brother said, he talks about his experiences more and I think he has more
respect for himself than he did before as a Code Talker. And it shows in the way he carries himself and participates in a lot more
of the Code Talker events. But there is a big difference in my dad and you can see it in his face, he's not so stressed out
as he used to look before. He's seems to have
(dad clearing throat) (all laughing)
calmed down a lot more. - I'm very into sports, even during the summer
I play a lot of softball and I noticed he comes out of his way to come watch me play more and he does talk about things
without me having to ask. Just about anything, so he's
more open with everything and more grateful for
his family I feel like 'cause he's more involved
than he used to be. - [Narrator] The difficult journey of the Navajo Code Talkers into wartime memories had an outcome they and their family members
could not have anticipated. (gentle music) - During the war, you have
nothing but the white rock. Just like this. I was captured here. Here, this one. And that time, we have
nothing but the skulls and pieces of the bodies. (gentle music) See that big difference. - It's very interesting to
know because we are ignorant of the country that we
invaded and conquered and we don't know the
culture of the people, where they came from, what
they do, why they exist, things like this, we don't know them. We just do our job, that's all. (dramatic drumming music) - [Narrator] Doing their job included retaking Japanese held islands from fanatical troops trying
to stop the American advance toward the Japanese homeland. - This is the beach that, Itoman, that confronted the Japanese army. - It's very emotional for me
to set my feet on this ground. I feel that this was
where my husband was back in World War 2. But lucky you're back. You save our country, you save this island for the native that were here. And it was your land which today we're living in a free world. - Firmly I believe it's
very positive for me. It gives me, have feeling that's good. To see so much progress
being made on this island. At the time that I was
here, 60 some years ago, all the devastation that I observed, has changed tremendously. So it makes me feel good to be here today. - It's something that I'm
gonna treasure deep down in my heart til the day I die. It was a touching moment for me. I didn't go there for a vacation, or I didn't go there
just to go sightseeing, I went there for a reason. I felt the pain that my husband felt when he walked up to the shore. (gentle music) And I'm glad I've seen the place and upon return, it made me felt different and I can feel Sam's whole life
has changed, like the burden and the barriers that he talked about, it's not mentioned to me quite
often like he did before. So I know that it was a healing process. (bombs booming)
(gentle music) - It's all smooth out, grass
start growin' back on it. Flowers waving back
and forth, trees there. That really helped me erase all the terrible things
that had happened there. From then on I don't have
no nightmares anymore. - You see a lot of your,
your, your friends, your buddies, your
comrades being wiped out. And you see the land how
devastated it has become and you leave it that way. Go home. So that stays in your mind, that picture of the situation, that's always something that you will remember. They say that your spiritual
ceremonials will cure that. And I've had that but it
still hangs on somewhere in my mind until I went back over there and see what the country looks like, see how the people are
happy, they're at peace, they're enjoying their freedom. They make their own decision,
they're going to school, their kids are happy, you know. Just a situation where's
everybody is living in harmony with each other. (audience applauding) (speaking in foreign language) - For the opportunity you have given us, especially our students in learning more about the world that we live in. It is very important that they
know, especially your role in World War 2 that makes the
peace throughout the world and since that time we have
not have any world war again. From the bottom of our
heart thank you very much. (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) - So it makes me feel good
that they are saying thank you for what we did and I'm
a little more prouder to hear them than getting
the Congressional. Congressional don't mean nothing to me but it's the people that
showed their appreciation and thankin' you that
makes a lot of difference. (gentle music) - After the trip, he seemed
to calm down quite a bit and the feeling that I used to get from him was a
feeling of desperation. And it was a great calming effect and he wasn't fidgety
all the time anymore. I think he's enjoying life more and one of the main factors for that I believe is his
Purple Heart presentation. And I think that kind of put a
seal over the bottle for him and made him feel complete. (gentle music) - On the second trip, my son went with me and I think he feel the same thing there. But this time the people
there were really appreciative of our participation in that war there. Because the native people there, it seemed like they
almost worshipped us there and they showed in every day that we were the Navajo Code
Talkers that helped there. Before that, I never really
realized what was happening because I didn't even know
whether I was coming or going, I just took orders and took part in it but the value of doing that, I
never knew until I get back. - Our great-grandchild wanted
to take his little teddy bear, take it with you Grandpa,
since I can't go, you have this guy go in my place, you carry that in your purse, Grandma. So we're gonna let him touch the soil in Saipan and Tinian, take him back. This is the way I feel, I think after Tinian that people should carry
these messages back to their families and their
schools and wherever they are. - He's not like, ah, he was, before he went back over there, he was always move, move military style, but he's more at peace I think. - Again it's up to our
young, our own people, the young people to carry
their legacy down the road for generations to come. And learn their tradition,
learn their cultural traditions, customary practices, learn their resources of the Navajo nation, simply because all of that was involved in developing this code. (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) - You know one thing that's
really overlooked is the impact of the Code Talkers after the
code was declassified in 1968. In 1968 there was only one school on the Navajo reservation trying hard to teach Navajo history
and culture in that school and that's was Rough Rock
Demonstration School. And it was struggling as a school teaching Navajo
history, language and culture. When the code was declassified, that was the engine that was necessary to help promulgate the teaching of Navajo language, culture and history at other schools in the reservation. It wasn't to long after that that Navajo history, language
and culture was required in Navajo schools on the reservation. And that I think is their
greatest contribution. (gentle music) - America in general. (speaking in foreign language) - Good to see you
- Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Bless you, we pray that the world peace. - Yes. (gentle music) - Why did I join and help fight the war? And I found out my land and my people, I found that my land was
the whole United States, my people were all citizen
of the United States. That was my people. And if he asks me, will I do
it again, I will do it again. (dramatic music) (gentle music)
