A Salute to Heroes
Hundreds attend dedication of Code Talker exhibit at Monument Valley

Navajo Code Talkers salute the colors during Saturday's dedication of the exhibit "Our Fathers, Our Grandfathers, Our Heroes ... The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II" at the Monument Valley Visitors Center. Several hundred people, as well as about two dozen Code Talkers, attended the dedication. [Photo by Darrel Beehner/Independent]

By Darrel Beehner
Staff Writer

MONUMENT VALLEY — Prior to 1941, Keith Little had never heard of the United States Marine Corps.

But it wasn't long after the U.S. entered World War II that the 15-year-old realized there was something about members of the Corps he envied.

It seems many of the young men he knew growing up had been drafted by the Marines and "they came back in these crisp, clean uniforms," he said. "They were kind of like a magnet to our girlfriends at school."

Things have changed.

Today, it is Little who is a drawing force.

Today, it is he and hundreds of his fellow Navajo living and dead who are the envy of nearly every young Marine recruit wearing the uniform.

Today, the Navajo Code Talkers are legendary.

And perhaps that is why several hundred people ignored biting winds and crowded onto the observation platform at the Monument Valley Visitors Center to take in the ceremonies leading up to Saturday's dedication of the Code Talker exhibit, "Our Fathers, Our Grandfathers, Our Heroes ... The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II."

The exhibit, which was created by students participating in the Circle of Light Navajo Education Project and has been displayed in various locations, now has a permanent home in the visitors center at Monument Valley.

"I can't think of a more appropriate, beautiful and fitting place" for the exhibit, said Zonnie Gorman, project coordinator for Circle of Light and the daughter of the late Code Talker, Paul Gorman.

As much as the exhibit, though, people came to see the Code Talkers themselves. About two dozen of the WWII veterans, most now in their 80s, attended the dedication, where they were greeted with all of the applause, flashing cameras and media attention of a Hollywood star on Oscar night.

It was the Code Talkers' coded use of the Navajo language that created a method of communication that baffled Japanese military intelligence and helped save the lives of countless American servicemen.

Kept secret for decades after the war, Code Talkers and their role in winning the war are now world renown.

Bud Falkenhain was visiting Monument Valley from his home in Rozlla, Mo., when he "stumbled across" the event.

"I'm tickled pink," he said as he snapped several pictures of the vaunted veterans. Falkenhain said he learned of the Code Talkers from books, word of mouth and the movie "Wind Talkers."

"But this brings it to a personal level," said Falkenhain, who had gotten several of the veterans to autograph a copy of photographer Kenji Kawano's book, "Warriors: The Navajo Code Talkers."

"It's a delight to see them get the recognition they so deserve."

The exhibit, a nearly two-year production, gives a historical overview of the Navajo Code Talkers from 1942 through the end of World War II through 36 historical photos, documents, and the Navajo Code itself as demonstrated by Little

The exhibit's beginning spawned from a year-long oral history project at Wingate High School in 2001 sponsored by Circle of Light Navajo Educational Project, the University of New Mexico-Gallup's School-To-Work program, and the Navajo Nation Museum.

A group of high school students spent part of the year studying World War II and researching the role of the Code Talkers through original documents. During the latter part of the school year, the students interviewed code talkers in Navajo.

A traveling exhibit was the end result and the project found a temporary home at the Navajo Nation Museum from August 2001 through May 2002.

The New Mexico State Capital requested the exhibit and displayed the project from August through December 2004.

The Monument Valley Visitor's Center, with a $20,000 donation from ArtsCo, offered the exhibit a permanent home.

"ArtsCo is helping three different things," said Arthur Ortega, general manager of the company in a previous interview. "We're honoring the code talkers, helping the park, and helping Circle of Light."

The company, owned by Ortega's 21-year-old daughter, Armanda, operates a gift shop and restaurant at Monument Valley.

Because of the more than 400,000 international visitors to the area, plans are in the works to translate the show into Japanese, German, and French.

"The Navajo language is a very prominent language," Little said. "... I am honored that (the exhibit) will help carry on our legacy forever."

In addition to the Code Talkers, others attending the dedication included "Wind Talkers" actor Roger Willie; Miss Utah Navajo Rozanna Benally; Amanda Ortega; Zonnie Gorman; members of a Tuba City color guard; and Navajo veterans from nearly every conflict in which the U.S. has taken part in the last 60 years.

Prior to the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Code Talkers and the widows of Code Talkers were presented with blankets by Benally and Ortega.

— Independent reporter Pamela G. Dempsey contributed to this report.