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

Nez recounts his experience as a Navajo Marine arriving at Guadalcanal on November 4, 1942. The chapter opens with his immediate sensory experiences aboard the transport ship as it approached the island, establishing both the physical discomfort of the tropical climate and his psychological state as he contemplated the impending battle.

As one of 13 Navajo code talkers in this deployment, Nez reflects on his motivations for enlisting in the Marines following the Pearl Harbor attack. His decision aligned with his sense of duty as a warrior and protector of his homeland, even as he grappled with how warfare could align with the peaceful principles of “The Right Way,” a traditional Navajo philosophy emphasizing balance and harmony in all things. Despite never having left Navajo land before joining the military, Nez adapted quickly to military life, excelling in training alongside other Native American recruits while carrying his traditional values with him.

As one of thirteen Navajo code talkers in this deployment, Nez reflects on his motivations for enlisting in the Marines following the Pearl Harbor attack. His decision stemmed from a complex intersection of cultural values: traditional Navajo warrior principles, a desire to protect his homeland, and a commitment to finding balance in the world. Despite never having left Navajo land before joining the military, Nez adapted quickly to military life, excelling in training alongside other Native American recruits.

The chapter provides background on the development of the Navajo code. After basic training, Nez and 31 other Navajo Marines created a secret military language based on their native tongue. The code comprised more than 200 words, and the code talkers practiced continuously to ensure speed and accuracy in transmission. Their presence on the ships remained classified, leading to initial confusion when radio operators first heard their transmissions.

Nez describes the strategic significance of Guadalcanal as a crucial stepping stone in the U.S. military’s island-hopping strategy to counter Japanese dominance in the South Pacific, following Pearl Harbor. The initial Marine landing in August 1942, the subsequent Japanese counterattack, and the devastating American naval losses in the Battle of Savo Island transformed the operation’s codename from “Watchtower” to “Shoestring,” as Marines struggled to hold their position with limited supplies and support.

The chapter culminates with a description of Nez landing on Guadalcanal. He provides an account of descending the ship’s rope nets into Higgins boats amid enemy fire, then wading through bloody water, past floating bodies—this experience challenged Navajo cultural taboos about death. Upon reaching shore, Nez and his fellow code talker Roy Begay dug foxholes near the tree line and tested their specialized TBX radio equipment. Nez and Begay spent that night in their flooded foxhole, alternating between vigilance and prayer. Nez found solace in traditional Navajo prayers and memories of his homeland in Chichiltah.

Nez describes his experiences as a six-year-old Navajo sheepherder in the mid-1920s. The chapter depicts his daily life on tribal lands between Arizona and New Mexico with his extended family, including his grandmother, two aunts, an uncle, and his siblings: two older brothers (Charlie Gray and Coolidge), and a sister named Dora.

The family managed approximately 300 sheep and 20 goats, relocating every few days across unfenced territories shared with other Navajo families. Their daily routine included milking ewes, feeding abandoned lambs, and protecting the herd from predators such as coyotes. The family maintained careful practices for their livestock, including bottle-feeding orphaned lambs and treating injured animals with traditional herbal remedies.

Nez explains key Navajo traditions and beliefs practiced by his family. His aunt performed morning blessings using corn pollen, touching it to Nez’s tongue and head before offering it in four directions. As a member of the Black Sheep clan through his mother’s lineage, Nez’s life decisions fell under clan authority, reflecting Navajo matriarchal structure.

The chapter also addresses the loss of Nez’s mother. Following Navajo customs, she spent her final days in a separate shelter to protect the children; Navajo tradition held that keeping children away from dying individuals protected them from being lured into death by the deceased person’s spirit (chindí). After her passing, the family observed traditional mourning practices, including keeping children from the burial and maintaining four days of isolation. The family spoke of her as ádin, or “no longer available,” rather than using terms for death, following Navajo linguistic customs (40).

The chapter concludes with a description of Nez and his brother Coolidge hunting and preparing a porcupine, demonstrating traditional food preparation methods and survival skills required for life on the range. Their successful hunt provided a welcome addition to their usual meals of tortillas and goat cheese.

Nez recalls an evening of storytelling from his childhood in the 1920s. With his family gathered around the fire, his father described the four sacred mountains that bounded Navajo territory: Mount Blanca in Colorado, Mount Taylor in New Mexico, the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, and Mount Hesperus in Colorado. These mountains required specific prayers from any Navajo person who needed to travel beyond them.

The family then shared the Navajo creation story, explaining how four Navajo words initiated the physical world’s formation. The narrative included the emergence of the Diné (Navajo people) into the “glittering fourth world” from previous underworlds (45), and the tale of Changing Woman, whose twin sons received weapons from their father, the sun, to defend the Diné from monsters. 

Nez’s grandmother also narrated the history of the Long Walk of 1864, during which Kit Carson’s military forces compelled thousands of Navajo people to march 350 miles from Fort Defiance, Arizona, to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Many died during this journey from illness, exhaustion, and military violence. At Fort Sumner’s Bosque Redondo reservation, the imprisoned Navajo population faced severe hardships, including contaminated water, poor soil conditions, and insufficient resources. After their release in 1868, some families returned to reservation lands while others, including Nez’s family, settled in the Checkerboard Area near the reservation.

This chapter details Nez’s transition from traditional Navajo life to government boarding schools in the late 1920s. After being pressured by a local trading post operator, Nez’s father enrolled Nez and his sister Dora in school, believing they needed to learn English.

Their first placement at Tohatchi boarding school proved difficult due to insufficient food. After their family observed their deteriorating physical condition, Nez’s older brother Coolidge arranged their transfer to Fort Defiance, an all-Navajo school in Arizona. This institution, previously a military outpost from the 1850s, had served as a gathering point for the forced relocation of Navajos during the Long Walk to Fort Sumner.

At Fort Defiance, students underwent immediate cultural transformations. Administrators gave mandatory haircuts, assigned English names, confiscated traditional clothing, and enforced English-only policies. If the students broke these rules, they were physically punished or had their mouths washed with soap. The Indigenous matrons, though themselves from other tribes, strictly enforced these policies.

The school environment sharply contrasted with Nez’s home life. Students slept in large dormitories rather than traditional hogans, faced strict segregation between boys and girls, and experienced limited access to various areas of the campus. Many children, including Nez, suffered from nightmares attributed to the school’s history as a military fort.

Nez describes his previous life with his family, noting the traditional wool preparation and weaving that supported their economy, the comfort of traditional clothing, and their trading relationships with local merchants. His life at the boarding school was dramatically different.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Fort Defiance boarding school placed older students in charge of younger ones, which led to bullying. Older students forced younger ones to play dangerous games, like when they made the younger students run across the room as they pelted them with baseballs. In the cafeteria, older students took food away from younger students and started food fights while staff members avoided intervening. Nez’s older brother occasionally stepped in to protect him from these incidents.

Students followed a strict daily schedule, waking up at 5:30 AM. Teachers required students to only speak in English, and they administered physical punishment for incorrect answers or for speaking in Navajo. To earn money for items at the trading post, students performed tasks like breaking coal and hauling water. Some students attempted to escape, including Nez’s friend Robert Walley. After their capture, these students faced punishment that included wearing girls’ clothing in front of their peers and being isolated from other students.

The chapter also details the religious aspects of boarding school life. Nez served as an altar boy and participated in the Catholic church choir for several years. The school introduced students to Christian practices and holidays, including Christmas celebrations with candy, fruit, and decorated trees. While Nez noted similarities between Catholic and Navajo spiritual practices, such as the use of holy water and corn pollen, school authorities rejected Navajo ceremonies as pagan. Students received instruction exclusively in Catholic teachings at school while maintaining Navajo spiritual practices at home, creating a division between their school and home lives.