Navajo Code Talkers expected for Anthem Veterans Parade

Staff Report~ 11/2/2011

Six members of the Navajo Code Talkers who served with the U.S. Marines in the Pacific during World War II have agreed to participate in the 7th annual Daisy Mountain Veterans Parade in Anthem beginning at 10 a.m. on Nov. 12. George Willie Sr., Peter MacDonald, Samuel Tsosie Sr., Alfred Peaches, Sidney Bedoni and Arthur Hubbard (age 100) will serve as honorary Grand Marshals.
Following a strategic landing by a Blackhawk helicopter, the Daisy Mountain Veterans Parade will step off promptly from King Drive and Gavilan Peak Parkway. Almost 100 units and more than 2,000 marchers will participate. The theme this year is “Arizona History” in recognition of our state’s 100th anniversary. The parade has, in fact, been named an Official Arizona Centennial Event, one of a very select group of functions to earn that designation.
The Navajo Code Talkers were used as radiomen communicating in their native language to confuse the Japanese. The belief that the enemy wouldn’t be able to decipher their messages proved justified, since the Japanese later admitted that the Navajo language was the only code used by our troops that they could never break.
The Code Talkers took part in every major battle of the Pacific, including Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Okinawa and Peleliu. After the war, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.” Today, fewer than 50 of the 420 Code Talkers who served during World War II survive.
The Code Talkers will be available following the parade to meet the public at “Veterans Row” in the Anthem Community Park. They have agreed to autograph the book, “Warriors, Navajo Code Talkers”, for those interested.
The parade route goes north on Gavilan Peak Parkway past Boulder Creek High School and by the Anthem Community Park. The parade then goes east on Anthem Way before turning south on Freedom Way, eventually ending in the Anthem Community Center parking lot.