46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

REQUESTING THE SECRETARY OF HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION TO DESIGNATE STATE ROAD 264 AS "CODE TALKER MEMORIAL HIGHWAY".

WHEREAS, approximately four hundred twenty Navajo men serving in the United States marine corps were trained during World War II to be Navajo code talkers; and

WHEREAS, Navajo code talkers performed many jobs while in the service; they spoke in code, transmitting information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield communication over phones and radios and acted as messengers, as well as performing other general duties performed by marines; and

WHEREAS, from 1942 through 1945, Navajo code talkers took part in every assault conducted by the United States marines; and

WHEREAS, the turning point of the campaign in the Pacific was the liberation of the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima; and

WHEREAS, during the liberation of Iwo Jima from Japanese control, there were over eight hundred messages sent by six Navajo code talkers, without a single error made; and

WHEREAS, Major Howard Connor, fifth marine division signal officer, declared "Were it not for the Navajos, the marines would never have taken Iwo Jima"; and

WHEREAS, Navajo code talkers were so important to the effort in the Pacific that secret security was assigned, without the knowledge of the code talkers, to protect the code talkers who were in the front lines; and

WHEREAS, the Japanese were not able to break the marine code used by the Navajo code talkers, and Navajo soldiers captured at Bataan were unwilling to disclose the meaning of the encoded words; and

WHEREAS, only six Navajo code talkers lost their lives during combat throughout the entire war; and

WHEREAS, indicative of the extreme care taken to protect the security of the code talker program, all records and information about the Navajo code talkers were classified until 1968, when it became declassified as public information; and

WHEREAS, the success of the Navajo code talkers in the south Pacific campaign helped to shorten the war and save thousands of American and Japanese lives; and

WHEREAS, two presidents of the United States have proclaimed that days be set aside to honor and remember Navajo code talkers and their role in bringing peace in the Pacific theater;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the secretary of highway and transportation be requested to designate state road 264, from the junction of state road 264 and United States highway 666 to the Arizona-New Mexico state line, as "Code Talker Memorial Highway"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor and the secretary of highway and transportation.