WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. Congressman Dan Boren introduced legislation Thursday to award the Congressional Gold Medal, among the most distinguished honors Congress can bestow, to tribute the brave veterans that served the United States as Code Talkers during World War I and II.
The Code Talker Recognition Act, H.R. 4544 would recognize every Code Talker who has bravely served the United States Armed Services with a Congressional Gold Medal for their respective tribe and a duplicate silver medal to each Code Talker. The bill would honor an estimated 300 Code Talkers and the 13 tribes they represent including: the Assiniboine, Chippewa and Oneida, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Sac and Fox, Crow, Kiowa, Menominee, Mississauga, Muscogee (Creek), Hopi, and the Sioux tribes.
“It is with great respect and admiration for the Code Talkers that I introduced this bill,” Boren said. “When World War I began, tribal members enlisted to aide the U.S. Armed Forces at a time when they did not even have full citizenship in our nation.”
The first reported use of Native American Code Talkers was on October 17, 1918. During World War I, tribal members played a role in U.S. military operations by transmitting vital communications that helped defeat German forces in Europe. Because the communications used by the Code Talkers were not based on European languages or mathematics, the Germans were unable to understand any of the transmissions.
“The heroic actions of the Code Talkers were instrumental in contributing to victories in both World War I and II,” Boren said. “As a nation, we have waited far too long to bestow this honor upon every one of these brave veterans.”
During World War II, the U.S. employed Native American Code Talkers who developed secret means of communication and were critical to winning the war. The code developed by the Code Talkers proved to be unbreakable and was used extensively in the Pacific and European theaters.
In 2001, the Navajo Code Talkers were rightly recognized for their contribution to the United States Armed Forces, but Code Talkers from many other tribal nations have not yet been recognized. For those Code Talkers who are deceased, H.R. 4544 would provide the duplicate silver medals to their families.
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