60 pages • 2 hours read
Judith Schiess Avila, Chester NezCode Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Advantages of Cultural Duality
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of racist policies and behavior. The source text uses an outdated term for Indigenous people, which is replicated in this guide in quotes or as part of the official names of governmental organizations.
The theme of cultural duality emerges as a central force that shaped both the effectiveness of the Navajo code talkers and their personal experiences during World War II. Rather than hindering their military service, the code talkers’ ability to navigate between Navajo and American military cultures became a crucial advantage. It not only contributed to Allied success in the Pacific Theater but also helped the code talkers maintain their cultural identity during the profound challenges of war.
The fusion of Navajo upbringing with military duties created unique advantages in combat situations. For instance, Nez describes how their childhood experiences in the desert helped the code talkers cope with the harsh conditions of war. Reflecting on their time in Peleliu, Nez says: “The lack of fresh water wasn’t as tough for us men from the reservation area as it was for many other Marines. Accustomed to rationing our food and water, we were no strangers to hunger and thirst” (210). This adaptive resilience, born from reservation life, proved invaluable in combat situations where resources were scarce. The ability to function effectively with limited supplies gave the Navajo Marines an edge that their commanding officers came to recognize and value.
Additionally, the code talkers’ linguistic duality served as both a military asset and a source of personal strength. During periods of intense combat, Nez describes how code talkers would switch between languages to support each other. He writes: “Speaking Navajo, I turned to another code talker, asking him what he thought… Face hollow and eyes exhausted, my buddy answered in Navajo” (158). This linguistic flexibility allowed them to maintain clear military communications while also providing emotional support through their native language. Even when other Marines would say “talk American, Chief” (158), the code talkers maintained their linguistic duality, recognizing its vital importance to both their mission and their psychological well-being.
The integration of Navajo spiritual practices with military service further demonstrates how cultural duality provided essential support mechanisms. Before each morning’s duties, Nez would perform traditional ceremonies despite the chaos of war. He says: “Like the other Navajo men, I always knew which direction was east, where the sun rises, where life begins. I gestured to the east, the south, the west, and the north, completing my first morning blessing sitting in a wet hole in the South Pacific war” (138). These spiritual practices did not detract from military duties. Rather, they served as a grounding force and enhanced the code talkers’ ability to maintain focus and stability amid the horrors of war. The preservation of such practices illustrates how cultural duality served as a source of strength rather than a point of conflict.
The Navajo Heritage of Survival and Resilience
Nez’s memoir demonstrates how traditional Navajo survival skills and resilient cultural practices prepared the code talkers for their crucial military role, despite the systematic attempts to erase their cultural identity. The text reveals how survival strategies learned in childhood enabled both physical and cultural persistence in the face of increasingly difficult challenges.
The code talkers’ early experiences on the Checkerboard reservation developed crucial survival instincts that would later prove valuable in military service. As a young shepherd, Nez learned to remain vigilant against predators, developing awareness skills that would later serve him in combat. He recounts a moment of sharp alertness while defending his flock, writing: “I stood absolutely still and waited, then carefully bent down and picked a stone, fitting it into the rubber of my inner tube slingshot” (37). Even as a boy, he was constantly alert to threats, and these experiences instilled a lifelong ability to assess danger, a skill that proved essential during the Guadalcanal invasion. His early training in survival manifested in combat situations. For instance, Nez describes scanning his environment during the chaos of landing: “A battleship was barely visible through the bloom off the port side of my transport” (16). His practiced ability to detect subtle changes in his environment helped him in developing the crucial military skill of identifying potential threats through limited visibility.
Further, Navajo children’s boarding school experience forced them to develop new forms of resilience by subjecting them to a harsh environment that included cultural suppression and physical punishment. Rather than completely submitting to the prohibition against their native language, students found ways to preserve their cultural identity while appearing to comply. Students developed subtle resistance strategies, such as speaking Navajo when authorities were absent or finding parallels between Catholic and traditional practices. These acts of adaptive resilience and cultural preservation later enabled the code talkers to transform their suppressed language into a military asset. This adaptability shows how the resilience they built in childhood carried forward into their military service.
Physical resilience learned through early hardship prepared Nez and the other code talkers for the demands of military service. The memoir describes how children on the reservation developed physical toughness through long periods of hunger and exposure to rugged terrain. Nez recalls that as a child, “[the] soles of [his] feet had thick calluses that enabled [him] to walk over rough ground without pain” (34). This early conditioning proved valuable during military training and combat. Similarly, he experienced hunger on the reservation, writing: “We could go for three or four days without eating” (12). This prepared Nez for grueling wartime conditions.
Through detailed examples spanning childhood, education, and military service, Code Talker illustrates how survival skills and resilience developed in one context could be adapted to meet new challenges. Additionally, the very cultural practices the government tried to eliminate ultimately contributed to military success. Navajo resilience enabled the code talkers to overcome both cultural suppression and the challenges of combat.
Service Despite Marginalization
Code Talker illustrates how Native American servicemen maintained unwavering dedication to military service despite facing systematic discrimination both in and out of uniform. The Navajo code talkers’ commitment to duty, despite their marginalized status in American society, ultimately proved instrumental to Allied victory. However, the memoir highlights the profound irony of them serving a nation that denied them basic rights of citizenship.
The military’s initial skepticism toward the Navajo code talkers reflected broader societal prejudices, yet their performance gradually earned deep respect from fellow servicemen. When Lieutenant Hunt first encountered the code talkers, Nez writes that he “just shook his head. He knew of our mission, but he had never worked with a group of Indians, and he had faith in the old code” (139). However, after witnessing the code talkers’ effectiveness in combat, attitudes within the military shifted dramatically. The code talkers’ ability to transmit messages in minutes rather than hours forced the military to reevaluate their previous biases. As Nez notes, “Lieutenant Hunt was impressed. But we Navajo code talkers already knew our code was good” (140).
Despite proving their worth in combat, the code talkers faced continued discrimination in their duties. The text reveals instances where other American troops mistook them for Japanese soldiers due to their appearance. Nez writes: “Some of the Marines thought we dark-haired, dark-skinned code talkers resembled the Japanese” (217). This racial profiling led to dangerous situations, such as when two soldiers threatened Nez and his companion with weapons. Yet even these potentially lethal encounters did not deter the code talkers from their mission, demonstrating their extraordinary commitment to service regardless of how they were treated by fellow servicemen.
The most striking example of marginalization appears in the contrast between the code talkers’ vital military service and their status as non-citizens. After participating in multiple invasions and contributing crucially to Allied victory, Nez notes that while “Native Americans were made citizens of the United States in 1924, we weren’t finally granted the right to vote in New Mexico until 1948, three years after I finished my service as a Navajo code talker in the Pacific War” (231). This stark reality underscores the profound contradiction of serving a country that denied basic democratic rights to its Indigenous veterans; yet the code talkers maintained their dedication to duty despite this fundamental injustice.
The experience of the Navajo code talkers serves as both an inspiration and an indictment. The memoir celebrates their remarkable dedication while forcing recognition of the systemic prejudices they overcame. The fact that their crucial contribution to victory did not immediately translate into full citizenship rights highlights deep-seated societal biases that persisted despite their proven loyalty and sacrifice in service to their country.
