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The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
by Chester Nez, Judith Schiess Avila
The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII-includes the actual Navajo Code and rare photos.
Although more than 400 Navajos served in the military during World War II as top-secret code talkers, even those fighting shoulder to shoulder with them were not told of their covert function. And, after the war, the Navajos were forbidden to speak of their service until 1968, when the code was finally declassified. Of the original twenty-nine Navajo code talkers, Chester Nez is the only one still alive. The original twenty-nine were the men who first devised the code, then proved it indispensable in combat.
In this memoir, the ninety-year-old Nez chronicles both his war years and his life growing up on the Checkerboard Area of the Navajo Reservation - the hard life that gave him the strength, both physical and mental, to become a Marine. His story puts a living face on the legendary men who developed what is still the only unbroken code in modern warfare.
"Nez's fascinating memoir details...[keeping] U.S. transmissions safe from the Japanese during WWII…Readers will be captivated by stories of Nez's childhood and his days as a Marine." —Publishers Weekly
"A unique, inspiring story by a member of the Greatest Generation." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Code Talker was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Chester Nev is a World War II veteran who indispensably served his country as a Navajo code talker. He lives in New Mexico.
Judith Schiess Avila conducted three years of interviews with Chester Nez before committing his story to paper. She lives in New Mexico.
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