FROM THE ARCHIVE
'Let's keep those damn Indians'
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2002

Sam Billison, one of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers, shared his World War II experiences at the Alaska Native Veterans Association meeting on Thursday.

Billison described how a test was conducted of the Navajo Code and the Marine Corps code. He said it took 2.5 minutes to code the Navajo message but two hours for the other.

In response, he said an officer remarked: "Well, let's keep those damn Indians." Billison added: "Pardon the expression, but that's the Marine Corps language."

Get the Story:
Navajo Code Talker recalls pivotal role (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 11/8)

Relevant Links:
Sen. Jeff Bingaman's Code Talkers' Site - http://bingaman.senate.gov/code_talkers
Harrison Lapahie Jr's Code Talkers' Site - http://www.lapahie.com/NavajoCodeTalker.html
Windtalkers - http://www.mgm.com/windtalkers
Navajo Code Talkers, Yahoo! - http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Communications/
Cryptology/Codes_and_Ciphers/Code_Talkers/Navajo

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