ii, the u.s.war marine corps recruited navajo indians to create a code based on their unwritten language to help the military secretly communicate operational plans. today on oral histories, navajo smith.lker samuel jesse here is a preview. tradition at the time , hopefully it will continue, is that when i came home and told my mother i was drafted and right away she somehow sent word to my grandpa. came for a ceremony like they do -- everybody that goes into the service, goes to war. that was what happened. when my grandpa came, he felt my arm. when he was going through the youmony, he said grandson, are not old enough to go to war. i said i want to go to war. drafted by the united states government. navajoshat time, the were afraid of the government. uncle sam. said, that is all right, if you are drafted, you go, my son. she got my grandpa to do the ceremony and then told by grandpa the same thing. he said ok. i will make you a warrior. so you can fight the japanese. had to pray from about 11:00 until 4:00 in the morning. as he was praying, i was repeating after him. all night. to beco

rain court reach you did navajo indians to create a code aced on their unwritten language to help the military. today on oral histories, navajo code talker samuel sandoval on his world war ii service. here's a preview. >> you are on the beach where you were 61 years ago. anything that is terribly important that you would like to say? >> i would like to say i was very reluctant before, as you , we went them and the traditional ceremonies that were man, and, the medicine i was advised not to return to killing.re was time,kept that for a long , what wouldbreak it be the consequences? he did not tell me what will my grandfather says you are going to be facing these kinds of obstacles throughout your lifetime. i might well try to discipline in a way that can be avoided, so i was sort of torn between and the religion part of my life. announcer: watch the entire at 2:00 p.m.ay eastern on oral histories. explore our past here on american history tv. announcer: on stevie was simply three giant networks and a government supported service. then in 1979 a small network with an unusual name rolled

marine corps recruiter navajo indians to create a code based on their navajo language to help the militarylants. navajo code talker, samuel sandoval on his life. he is a preview. >> you are on the beach where you were 61 years ago. anything that is terribly important that you would like to say? say that ilike to -- very reluctant for [indiscernible] the educational ceremonies that the shaman or, medicine man. i was advised not to return to where there was killing. but i kept that for a long time and if i do, what would be the consequences? do not tell me. what will happen? c by my grandfather says, you will be facing these kinds of obstacles throughout your you so you should try to discipline in a way that it can be avoided. torn between of education and the religious part of my life. announcer: which the entire interview with world war ii veteran and navajo code talker sam will send over best symbol sandoval.- samuel farouk el-baz is a space scientist who trained astronauts and led the lunar landing site selection process for nasa's apollo program between 1967 and 1972. next on american h

navajo indians have a -- what they call a three-night ceremony. you have a three-night ceremony, dance, thed a squaw that clarifies the noise you have, the vision that you have, the vision. , you hear them them shooting,ar , likear somebody crying you have experienced in the war. when you have that, you need to .ave, like, a ceremony and when you have that, it helps. we had that for many, many years. talkers, theode code talkers brought the scout, so we had to come back and pick up the medicine that we wanted material, and when you go back, you have the and guess what you haded it? post-traumatic stress disease, so they would usually have a would cureand it will car your body, your body and your visions. , andmes it would get bad cure that you had was the ceremony. i hope that answers your question. i kind of want to know how you do it. did you go through all those steps? mr. draper: no, i did not have all of the material to go through the ceremony. you take it to the earth, to give back to the ceremony. george: can i ask you a question? did you,

marine corps recruited navajo indians to create a code based on their unwritten novel whole language to help the millet -- navajo language. in a series of interviews former navajo coal to offer -- code talker keith liddell talks about his service. hisinterview talks about experience and takes place at his home in arizona on navajo tribal lands and on the pacific islands where he served. he reflects on the impact of returning to the battlefield 60 years later and the legacy of the navajo code talkers. joining us onor c-span3's american history tv. you produced a documentary on the novel hope code talkers, talkers,navajo code why? >> once you learn about them they are hard to forget. i had just moved on a part-time basis to santa fe and socially met the lawyer, the pro bono lawyer, for the navajo code

marine corps recruited navajo indians to create a code based on their unwritten language to help the y secretly communicate operational plans. next, a former navajo code talks samuel jesse smith about his early life and world war ii service. conducted between 2004 and 2006, the and on the pacific islands where he served during the war. mr. smith reflects on his assignment with the fourth marine division. later nicknamed the fighting fourth, transmitting messages for general clifton b. cates and he also talks about his experience returning to the battlefields 60 years later. but first, we hear from film maker and historian george colburn who conducted the interviews for his documentary project, navajo code talkers, journey of remembrance.

u.s.g world war ii, the marine corps recruited navajo indians to create a code based on their line waso help the military secretly communicate operational plans. next in a series of interviews, coder navajo doe -- talker samuel jesse smith talked about his early life conducted between 2004 and 2006 the interviews took place at his home on the navajo national tribal lands in arizona and on the pacific islands where he served. mr. smith reflects on his assignment with the fourth marine division transmitting messages for general clifton b. cates. he talked about his experience returning to the battlefield 60 years later. first we heard

marine corps recruited navajo indians to have the military secretly communicate operational plans.views,eries of samuel jesse smith talks about his early life and world war ii service. 2006, the15 2004 and interviews took place at mr. smith's home in the tribal lands of arizona and on the pacific islands, where he served during the war. he reflects on his assignment with the fourth marine division. later named the fighting force, transferring messages for the general. he also talks about his first we hill -- hear from filmmaker and historian george colburn, who conducted the interviews for this topic. >> filmmaker and historian george colburn, thanks very much for sharing your interviews for c-span 3's american history tv. who were they? george colburn: the code talkers, except for a unique individual were mainly kids. teenagers who were excited by the lure of being warriors again. they'd been brought up in

navajo code, some of them were failing. so they were taken out. and they found out, some of s.ose indians were not navajo so they were taken out, reassigned someplace else. only a few were left that took, i think he was one of them. [clears throat] so, that was my reason for joining the marine corps. i wanted to get even with the japanese. very, very bad. was sorryurse, i about not being accepted in the air wing. the navajo code training did not matter much to me, except that it wasn't hard, either. we had to memorize and learn a semaphore, morse code, and blinkers. we had to learn all of those things because we couldn't be mixed with the white -- we were going to be mixed with the white and us. i was doing all of that, plus when i had to do the navajo code my opinion was a magnificent piece of work, because i learned how to use the cypher, decipher messages which took a long time. but doing the navajo code was quick thing that, i was in charge of the navajo code talkers with the fourth marine division. i think that must have been kind of the evaluation from -- on account of the evaluatio

indian platoon 1982? he brought home to our navajo nation parade in the fall. and a whole marine corps followed him. they followed that indian platoon. they brought their white horses. it was really neat to see a whole bunch of marines there in their blues, because he got his blues free. [chuckles] being the honor of the platoon. i'm proud of him. and he's the a lot of help to the group that is making the tour. in october, he was a lot of help. right now he is, too. i'm glad to -- and also, i never talked like this to my children. but he's learning what i did and, hopefully, he will tell his brothers and sisters some day. indians do not talk about wars and i found out that the white people don't, either. they do not talk about wars. i've got this info from other people that i have met on the trips anywhere. this division was called the and we didvision, the marshall islands first, and later iwo jima. we were based on the maui island in honolulu. since i am a volunteer, that short period, two years, nine months is all i served. i had enough points, enough battles to get out at v-j day, on october 3, 1

he's an outstanding marine himself with the all indian 1981.n, 1982 -- yeah. e brought home to our navajo nation parade in the fall. and the whole marine corps followed him, followed that indian platoon. they brought their white horses. it was -- it was really neat to see a whole bunch of marines there in blues. he got his blues first, free, eing the honor of the platoon. so i'm proud of him. and he's a lot of help to the group that is making the tour. he irst, october, guam, was a lot of help. glad.now, he's -- i'm and also i never talked like but he's children earning what i did and hopefully he will tell his brothers and sisters someday. indians don't talk about wars. and i found out the white people don't, either. hey don't talk about wars. i've got this info from other people that i have met on the trips anywhere. fourth division was called the fighting division. the fightingest division. and we did the islands first and then saipeng and tinian and later iwo jima. we were based on maui island nd honolulu group. , it -- since i'm a volunteer that short period, two years, nine months,

marine corps recruited not a hopi indians -- navajo indians to help the military secretly communicate operational commands. today, navajo code talkers albert smith on his world war ii service, a spiritual practice, and witnessing japanese soldier's suicides. here is a preview. mindmething that came to elders haded what my mentioned to me after i came back from the service, and that questionssked me some , and i could only answer two partially. back fromf you bring war pictures, and i told them very little because we were only allowed to have so many pictures taken of us. the other one was come did you bring back -- was, did you bring back some more stories? yes, i had some war stories. my next question was, did you bring back a middle of war? no. did you bring back a taste of war? no. did you bring back the feeling of war? those three questions i could not answer. i said no. , leaver suggestion the war stories where it was, where it happened. don't bring it home. i thought about that for many years. why they had asked me to do that when i could hear, see, and feel stories, some of the

gifts and game for red cross packages. >> from this primitive home, a navajo chief has sent three sons to the army. american indians, loyal to their country. >> the air transport of tomorrow becomes the reality of today. the constellation, america's newest land-based cargo plane is ready for her first flight. >> be near two wings, a p 38 fighter planes look like a toy miniature, built the fire 35,000 feet ends of the stratosphere, the big ship is set to be faster than a job zero fighter plane. for powerful engines lift the sky giant a lot. plane that can cross the american continent or the atlantic ocean and eight hours with a full load. forerunner of a mighty fleet. on the pacific coast, a new steel mill is completed at the kaiser shipyard. mr. kaiser is the man who built 10,000 ton lebanese ships and four days. the giant blast furnace begins to operate for the first time. no longer will they have to transport materials all the way from the big eastern steel mills. now, they will make steel plates for steel ships right on the spot. >> reporter: >> american fighters trade on forces just as difficult as they will fi

marine corps recruiter never how indians to help the military secretly communicate their operational plans. in a few minutes, in a series of interviews, we will hear from navajo code talkers samuel sandoval who talked about his life, religious views, and world war ii service. conducted between 2004-2006, the interviews took place in his home in new mexico and on the island of guam, one of several islands where he served during the war. the first we hear from filmmaker and historian george colburn, who conducted the interviews for his documentary -- navajo code talkers: journey of remembrance. cockburn, explain how this project came together. >> method is a long story, it was really stimulated by the impending release of the wind talkers, starring a big international star,

in the san juan basin, navajo reservoir is operated to provide water for two of our indian tribes and a number of other water users and to maintain endangered species flow in the river through new mexico and utah to lake powell. its operations have reduced or eliminated the impacts of drought on the main stem of the san juan river. navajo reservoir operations provide endangered species compliance through the san one river implementation program for numerous water users including the navajo nation. also the san onejuan chama. divers to the rio grande basin have significantly reduces the impacts of extended drought on portions of the rowio grande. finally, the project water is used by cities, farmers, and to the benefit of endangered species on the rio grande base in. in 2018, the drought was so severe that without san one channel water flowing to the rio grande, the river would have been dry for several hundred miles. when the 2007 interim guidelines were negotiated, the department of interior performed an analysis pursuant to the national environmental policy act and published record

indians to create a code race on their unwritten language. in a few minutes, and a series of interviews we hear from navajo code talker teddy draper for talks but his early life and world war ii service. conducted between 2004 and 2006, at mr.erviews to lace draper's home in arizona. and in guam, where he served during the war. first we hear from filmmaker and historian george colburn who conducted the interviews for his documentary "navajo code talkers: journey of remembrance." george colburn, thanks for joining us.

u.s.g world war ii, the marine corps recruited navajo indians to create a code based on their line was to help the military secretly communicate operational plans. next in a series of interviews, coder navajo doe -- talker samuel jesse smith talked about his early life conducted between 2004 and 2006 the interviews took place at his home on the navajo national tribal lands in arizona and on the pacific islands where he served. mr. smith reflects on his assignment with the fourth marine division transmitting messages for general clifton b. cates. he talked about his experience returning to the battlefield 60 years later. first we heard from george colburn who conducted the interview for his documentary project, " journey of remembrance." historianer and george cockburn, thanks very much for sharing your interviews for c-span 3's american history tv. who were they? >> the code talkers, except for a unique individual were mainly kids. excited byho were the lure of being warriors again. they'd been brought up in a warrior tradition in a tribe runt had been obviously over by the american mi

indians to create a code race on their unwritten language. in a few minutes, and a series of interviews we hear from navajo code talker teddy draper for talks but his early life and world war ii service. conducted between 2004 and 2006, at mr.erviews to lace draper's home in arizona. and in guam, where he served during the war. first we hear from filmmaker and historian george colburn who conducted the interviews for his documentary "navajo code talkers: journey of remembrance." george colburn, thanks for joining us. in just a moment we will show our audience another segment from your film, "navajo code talkers: journey of remembrance." explain the process. this became a series of interviews here in the u.s. in their homes and then across the pacific. george: that's right. the interviews in their homes came after we had gone on two trips to the pacific islands. we broke them up having to do with the limited access to he is anam a, even though it iconic battlefield of world war ii and the flag raising their. the symbol of victory in the and proud moment for the u.s. marine corps. put the trips -- make them into one, they would be too long away f

navajo code talker association. as a historian and new resident of the southwest i was fascinated by this world war ii story. it so happened at that time that heyer, michael gross, specialized in american indian outafter coming out of -- of yale law school. he went out of the great society program and never left. involvedime he was with just about every matter associated with the code talkers. with the upcoming nicolas cage movie called wind talkers. we started talking about -- which was fiction. talkers story, i'm in the documentary film business, he wanted to tell the true story about the novel hope code talkers and the process began and lasted about eight years before we had a finished product. >> where they widely known within the military during world war ii? >> no, they were not widely known. as the idea oft a navajo speaking child of a missionary on the reservation. to and the concept officer of the marine corps of what would become camp pendleton in san diego. they took that idea of a code language toavajo -- to a test. -- they weredians 10 times faster than morse code. with 29 code talkers, inventing the first stage of what became the navajo code. began, as i said, one of the early k