MEET THE NAVAJO NATION MARINES CARRYING ON THE LEGACY OF WORLD WAR II CODE TALKERS
November 2, 2022 ·Matt White
On the first day of Native American Heritage Month, the Marines celebrated members of the Navajo Nation, including descendants of the World War II Code Talkers. US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Leslie Alcaraz.
In early 1942, Benjamin Cleveland was 17 years old and, having grown up in the Navajo country of Fort Defiance, Arizona, had found work as an assistant cook at the local hospital.
The year before, he had finished eighth grade at a government boarding school for Navajo children on Fort Defiance. He was athletic and played the harmonica, according to a 2015 paper written by a University of New Mexico history student.
In May, he enlisted in the Marines and quickly found himself training alongside 28 other Navajo men to be radio operators. After seven weeks of boot camp and 13 weeks of secret training with radios and code books, Cleveland was sent to the Pacific theater with the 3rd Marine Division as it began to fight its way across the Pacific.
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