Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 25, 2006 10:53:25 GMT -5
Choctaw Nation works to pass Code Talker Recognition Act
By Chrissie Isenberg
www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/news3.txt
<http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/news3.txt>
Veteran's Day is just around the corner, and yet there is one special
group of veteran's who have yet to receive the recognition they deserve,
according to the Choctaw, Comanche and Sioux tribes.
The Code Talker Recognition Act is a bill that the Choctaw Nation, along
with other Native American tribes, are working with Congress to get
passed.
"It passed the House last year, but died in the Senate due to lack
of time," said Judy Allen, executive director of public relations
for the Choctaw Nation. "Now it is stuck in committee. Chairman
Oxley, from Ohio, is not releasing it in a House committee."
A bill was passed in 2000 to present the Navajo Code Talkers with a
medal, which was presented in 2001.
<http://adsys.townnews.com/c43891887/creative/durantdemocrat.com/+middle\
/56734.jpg?r=http://www.durantdemocrat.com/display_ads/PegasusInn-webpag\
e.txt>
"We just want equal representation."
The Code Talker Recognition Act recognizes all tribes that participated
in the war.
According to Allen, there were 18 tribes other than the Navajos that
participated in being Code Talkers.
"It has been almost 90 years since the Choctaws of World War I
volunteered their service to the United States and joined the Army to
travel across the ocean to foreign land. Some of the Choctaw men were
overheard speaking their Native language in the midst of battlefields in
France and an officer immediately had a brainstorm. Training the
Choctaws to use their words as `code,' they were placed
strategically on front lines and at command posts so that messages could
be transmitted without being understood by the enemy. Eighteen Choctaw
men have been documented as being the first to use their own language as
a `code' to transmit military messages," Allen said in a press
release.
Allen said the bill allows for specially minted medal to be issue to the
Code Talkers. In the case of the Choctaw Nation, the medals would be
presented post-humously. Allen said the last of the Sioux Code Talkers
passed away this summer, and the last Comanche Code Talker passed away
in 2005.
"Now there are starting to be funerals for the children of the Code
Talkers," Allen said, adding that they would like to see the bill
passed before all the Code Talker's children passed away.
Allen is asking people to write their Congressmen to encourage the
movement of the bill.
Explaining that the bill has received support from all member of
Congress from Oklahoma, Allen is also encouraging people to talk to
individuals from other states.
"If they have relatives or friends in other states, they could
encourage them to contact their Congressmen. Congress wants to hear from
their own constituents," she explained. "We need to encourage
them this is a good bill."
Allen said if the bill is not passed during this congressional session,
the tribes would have to begin the process all over again.
By Chrissie Isenberg
www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/news3.txt
<http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/11/04/news/news3.txt>
Veteran's Day is just around the corner, and yet there is one special
group of veteran's who have yet to receive the recognition they deserve,
according to the Choctaw, Comanche and Sioux tribes.
The Code Talker Recognition Act is a bill that the Choctaw Nation, along
with other Native American tribes, are working with Congress to get
passed.
"It passed the House last year, but died in the Senate due to lack
of time," said Judy Allen, executive director of public relations
for the Choctaw Nation. "Now it is stuck in committee. Chairman
Oxley, from Ohio, is not releasing it in a House committee."
A bill was passed in 2000 to present the Navajo Code Talkers with a
medal, which was presented in 2001.
<http://adsys.townnews.com/c43891887/creative/durantdemocrat.com/+middle\
/56734.jpg?r=http://www.durantdemocrat.com/display_ads/PegasusInn-webpag\
e.txt>
"We just want equal representation."
The Code Talker Recognition Act recognizes all tribes that participated
in the war.
According to Allen, there were 18 tribes other than the Navajos that
participated in being Code Talkers.
"It has been almost 90 years since the Choctaws of World War I
volunteered their service to the United States and joined the Army to
travel across the ocean to foreign land. Some of the Choctaw men were
overheard speaking their Native language in the midst of battlefields in
France and an officer immediately had a brainstorm. Training the
Choctaws to use their words as `code,' they were placed
strategically on front lines and at command posts so that messages could
be transmitted without being understood by the enemy. Eighteen Choctaw
men have been documented as being the first to use their own language as
a `code' to transmit military messages," Allen said in a press
release.
Allen said the bill allows for specially minted medal to be issue to the
Code Talkers. In the case of the Choctaw Nation, the medals would be
presented post-humously. Allen said the last of the Sioux Code Talkers
passed away this summer, and the last Comanche Code Talker passed away
in 2005.
"Now there are starting to be funerals for the children of the Code
Talkers," Allen said, adding that they would like to see the bill
passed before all the Code Talker's children passed away.
Allen is asking people to write their Congressmen to encourage the
movement of the bill.
Explaining that the bill has received support from all member of
Congress from Oklahoma, Allen is also encouraging people to talk to
individuals from other states.
"If they have relatives or friends in other states, they could
encourage them to contact their Congressmen. Congress wants to hear from
their own constituents," she explained. "We need to encourage
them this is a good bill."
Allen said if the bill is not passed during this congressional session,
the tribes would have to begin the process all over again.