Post by blackcrowheart on Aug 30, 2006 15:52:47 GMT -5
Navajo code talker visits replica Vietnam Wall
John P. Cleary
August 24, 2006
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JOHN P. CLEARY/Star-Gazette
Thomas Begay, center, talks with Vietnam veterans Ted Watson, left, and
Dale McKay on Tuesday at Eldridge Park in Elmira. Begay's wife, Nina
Begay, center, and his granddaughter, Shannon Begay, sit beside him.
Greg Grund was apologetic when the interview with Thomas Begay fell
apart.
"This happens everywhere we go," he said with a shrug.
About a dozen people had crowded around us and started talking to
Thomas. I put away my notebook.
"This must happen a lot to you," I said to him after the first
interruption.
"All of the time," he said with a smile. "Everybody wants to talk."
Tuesday afternoon at Eldridge Park in Elmira, it seemed everybody wanted
to say the same thing to him:
"Thank you, sir," said Ted Watson, past president of the local chapter
of the Vietnam Veterans of America, as he leaned in to shake Begay's
hand. "Thank you for your service."
You might remember Thomas from earlier stories in the Star-Gazette. He's
a Marine veteran of World War II and the Korean War, a Navajo code
talker who was befriended by Greg and his wife, Michele Bonet-Grund.
Thomas, his wife, Nina Begay, and their granddaughter, Shannon Begay,
visited the Grunds in Elmira this week.
The Begays, who live in Window Rock, Ariz., had been to Elmira before.
Greg, a science teacher at Southside High School, and Michele, who
teaches Spanish at Horseheads Middle School, brought Thomas here to
speak to students in 2002. They met him after becoming interested in
code talkers while visiting World War II battle sites in the Pacific.
Begay and other Navajos were used to transmit coded messages in their
native language during the war. Since there were so few Navajo speakers,
it was thought the messages would be very difficult for the Japanese to
interpret. The technique was a success and kept a closely-guarded secret
until 1969, Thomas said.
Tuesday, Greg and Michele took Thomas and Nina to an Elmira Rotary Club
meeting, where Thomas sang for members in Navajo. After that, they went
to Eldridge Park, where the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall was being set
up. I met them there in the shade of a volunteer tent.
Thomas said he joined the Marines after being turned down for a job. The
man doing the hiring told Thomas he was too young, and Thomas decided
he'd show him by enlisting. He asked to be trained as an aerial gunner
but instead was ordered to report to Camp Pendleton in California after
completing basic training. When he walked into a room full of other
Navajo Marines, Thomas realized something unusual was going on.
They were given code words to memorize, Thomas said, and were taught how
to use cryptography machines and send messages by Morse code and
semaphore. We were just getting to the part about Thomas' first
deployment when the crowd started gathering. There were plenty of
veterans on hand, watching and volunteering to help set up the memorial,
and many sought out Thomas once they saw his brightly decorated Navajo
take on a Marine uniform.
"I was a Marine, too," said one man passing by.
"Semper Fi," Thomas responded.
"I saw you in the movies," another said.
"Well, maybe on the History Channel," Thomas replied.
Soon, he and the other veterans were swapping war stories. A group of
children watched nearby.
Thomas didn't mind the interruption. He looks forward to them. He said
he sees it as his duty to reach out to others and tell the stories of
the code talkers who died in combat or died unrecognized after the war.
And he feels like an ambassador to the larger world from his Navajo
friends and relatives, spreading the message that the Navajo are proud
Americans who contribute to society.
"A lot of people think we just sit around at home collecting commodities
and food stamps," he said.
John P. Cleary
August 24, 2006
www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006608240318
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[enlarge]
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JOHN P. CLEARY/Star-Gazette
Thomas Begay, center, talks with Vietnam veterans Ted Watson, left, and
Dale McKay on Tuesday at Eldridge Park in Elmira. Begay's wife, Nina
Begay, center, and his granddaughter, Shannon Begay, sit beside him.
Greg Grund was apologetic when the interview with Thomas Begay fell
apart.
"This happens everywhere we go," he said with a shrug.
About a dozen people had crowded around us and started talking to
Thomas. I put away my notebook.
"This must happen a lot to you," I said to him after the first
interruption.
"All of the time," he said with a smile. "Everybody wants to talk."
Tuesday afternoon at Eldridge Park in Elmira, it seemed everybody wanted
to say the same thing to him:
"Thank you, sir," said Ted Watson, past president of the local chapter
of the Vietnam Veterans of America, as he leaned in to shake Begay's
hand. "Thank you for your service."
You might remember Thomas from earlier stories in the Star-Gazette. He's
a Marine veteran of World War II and the Korean War, a Navajo code
talker who was befriended by Greg and his wife, Michele Bonet-Grund.
Thomas, his wife, Nina Begay, and their granddaughter, Shannon Begay,
visited the Grunds in Elmira this week.
The Begays, who live in Window Rock, Ariz., had been to Elmira before.
Greg, a science teacher at Southside High School, and Michele, who
teaches Spanish at Horseheads Middle School, brought Thomas here to
speak to students in 2002. They met him after becoming interested in
code talkers while visiting World War II battle sites in the Pacific.
Begay and other Navajos were used to transmit coded messages in their
native language during the war. Since there were so few Navajo speakers,
it was thought the messages would be very difficult for the Japanese to
interpret. The technique was a success and kept a closely-guarded secret
until 1969, Thomas said.
Tuesday, Greg and Michele took Thomas and Nina to an Elmira Rotary Club
meeting, where Thomas sang for members in Navajo. After that, they went
to Eldridge Park, where the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall was being set
up. I met them there in the shade of a volunteer tent.
Thomas said he joined the Marines after being turned down for a job. The
man doing the hiring told Thomas he was too young, and Thomas decided
he'd show him by enlisting. He asked to be trained as an aerial gunner
but instead was ordered to report to Camp Pendleton in California after
completing basic training. When he walked into a room full of other
Navajo Marines, Thomas realized something unusual was going on.
They were given code words to memorize, Thomas said, and were taught how
to use cryptography machines and send messages by Morse code and
semaphore. We were just getting to the part about Thomas' first
deployment when the crowd started gathering. There were plenty of
veterans on hand, watching and volunteering to help set up the memorial,
and many sought out Thomas once they saw his brightly decorated Navajo
take on a Marine uniform.
"I was a Marine, too," said one man passing by.
"Semper Fi," Thomas responded.
"I saw you in the movies," another said.
"Well, maybe on the History Channel," Thomas replied.
Soon, he and the other veterans were swapping war stories. A group of
children watched nearby.
Thomas didn't mind the interruption. He looks forward to them. He said
he sees it as his duty to reach out to others and tell the stories of
the code talkers who died in combat or died unrecognized after the war.
And he feels like an ambassador to the larger world from his Navajo
friends and relatives, spreading the message that the Navajo are proud
Americans who contribute to society.
"A lot of people think we just sit around at home collecting commodities
and food stamps," he said.