1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.165382.1
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 23
48
TH LEGISLATURE
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
FIRST SESSION
, 2007
INTRODUCED BY
Ray Begaye
A JOINT MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THAT THE UNITED STATES ISSUE A POSTAGE STAMP
COMMEMORATING THE NAVAJO CODE TALKERS.
WHEREAS, twenty years before the civil rights movement of
the 1960s, young Native American men served in the United
States military with great honor during World War II in a
special fighting unit that would impress upon the public that
loyalty and military service to America is above one's
ancestry; and
WHEREAS, the Navajo code talkers distinguished themselves
during World War II by serving with outstanding valor in the
United States military; and
WHEREAS, due to the outstanding service of the code
talkers, as well as Japanese Americans and the Tuskegee airmen,
President Harry Truman ended segregation in the armed forces in
pg_0002
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.165382.1
- 2 -
1948 with executive order number 9981; and
WHEREAS, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese empire attacked
Pearl Harbor, and the United States congress declared war the
following day; and
WHEREAS, the United States government called on the Navajo
Nation to support the military effort by recruiting and
enlisting twenty-nine Navajo men to serve as marine corps radio
operators in 1942; and
WHEREAS, the Navajo marine corps radio operators, who
became known as the "Navajo code talkers", developed a highly
successful coded form of the Navajo language that ultimately
numbered over six hundred fifty code terms and that made it
impossible for the Japanese enemy to decipher American battle
messages about the times and places of attack, thereby greatly
assisting in saving countless lives and hastening the end of
World War II in the Pacific; and
WHEREAS, by 1945, the number of Navajo enlistees stood at
approximately five hundred forty, with around four hundred of
those serving as trained code talkers; and
WHEREAS, fifty-six years after the end of World War II, in
July 2001, President George W. Bush presented the original
twenty-nine code talkers with the congressional gold medal of
honor, although only five were alive to receive their medals;
and
WHEREAS, in November 2001, the remaining four hundred
pg_0003
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.165382.1
Navajo code talkers received the congressional silver medal of
honor in Window Rock, Arizona;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislature officially recognize
the outstanding contributions to the war efforts of the United
States by the Navajo code talkers and honors their exceptional
bravery and patriotism; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature requests that
the United States postal service issue a commemorative postal
stamp to honor the service of the Navajo code talkers during
World War II; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the president of the United States, the
president of the Navajo Nation, the president of the United
States senate, the speaker of the United States house of
representatives, the postmaster general of the United States
and the citizens' stamp advisory committee of the United States
postal service.
- 3 -