Post by Okwes on Jul 10, 2006 16:33:10 GMT -5
Documentary focuses on lives and times of Navajo codetalkers
BY BETHANY ROOT, NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Friday, July 7, 2006 12:09 PM EDT
www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/07/07/news/local_regional/news\
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<http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/07/07/news/local_regional/new\
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At no time has the role of Native Americans in the U.S. military been
more instrumental than during World War II, when Navajo codetalkers used
their language to keep wartime communications from being intercepted by
Axis forces.
George Colburn, president and director of Starbright Media Corp. with an
office in Walloon Lake, is currently working on a documentary about
these veterans, with a working title of "America's Native Heroes:
The Lives and Times of the Navajo Codetalkers." The film doesn't
just focus on the Navajos' wartime contributions, but on their lives
before and after their service, he said.
"It's not just about war, but who they were before the war, why they
joined up, and what happened after the war when the government said that
they couldn't talk about what they did in the war," he said.
"They've become heroes in the last 10 or 15 years, but most of their
lives nobody knew who they were or what they did."
Fewer than 100 of the original 400 codetalkers are still living, Colburn
said. During the war, 250 or 300 of those actually saw action, and at
least 100 were trained and made codetalkers for the invasion of Japan
that never took place.
Colburn has spoken with numerous codetalkers and their families for the
film, which went into production last fall.
Since then, Colburn and his subjects have taken trips to sites in Guam,
Siapan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Camp Pendleton in California for the
documentary's "Back to the Battlefields" segment. In September,
Colburn will conduct follow-up interviews with the codetalkers and their
families.
<http://adsys.townnews.com/c45186396/creative/petoskeynews.com/news+loca\
l_regional+middle/48721.gif?r=http://www.petoskeynews.com/display_ads/Ka\
uffmans.txt>
Most of the codetalkers are in their 80s now, he said, and one of the
film's purposes was to have them share their experiences with younger
family members.
"The experience was rather unique in a couple of ways," Colburn
said. "One, as Native Americans they volunteered to fight for a
government that had seriously oppressed them, I'd say. Second, they were
put in specific communication units, and developed a code within their
unwritten language, for use strictly on battlefields so there could be
open air communication on the front lines."
"The code was never broken by the Japanese," he added.
Colburn said that the documentary will probably air in fall 2007 on
public television.
BY BETHANY ROOT, NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Friday, July 7, 2006 12:09 PM EDT
www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/07/07/news/local_regional/news\
02.txt
<http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/07/07/news/local_regional/new\
s02.txt>
At no time has the role of Native Americans in the U.S. military been
more instrumental than during World War II, when Navajo codetalkers used
their language to keep wartime communications from being intercepted by
Axis forces.
George Colburn, president and director of Starbright Media Corp. with an
office in Walloon Lake, is currently working on a documentary about
these veterans, with a working title of "America's Native Heroes:
The Lives and Times of the Navajo Codetalkers." The film doesn't
just focus on the Navajos' wartime contributions, but on their lives
before and after their service, he said.
"It's not just about war, but who they were before the war, why they
joined up, and what happened after the war when the government said that
they couldn't talk about what they did in the war," he said.
"They've become heroes in the last 10 or 15 years, but most of their
lives nobody knew who they were or what they did."
Fewer than 100 of the original 400 codetalkers are still living, Colburn
said. During the war, 250 or 300 of those actually saw action, and at
least 100 were trained and made codetalkers for the invasion of Japan
that never took place.
Colburn has spoken with numerous codetalkers and their families for the
film, which went into production last fall.
Since then, Colburn and his subjects have taken trips to sites in Guam,
Siapan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Camp Pendleton in California for the
documentary's "Back to the Battlefields" segment. In September,
Colburn will conduct follow-up interviews with the codetalkers and their
families.
<http://adsys.townnews.com/c45186396/creative/petoskeynews.com/news+loca\
l_regional+middle/48721.gif?r=http://www.petoskeynews.com/display_ads/Ka\
uffmans.txt>
Most of the codetalkers are in their 80s now, he said, and one of the
film's purposes was to have them share their experiences with younger
family members.
"The experience was rather unique in a couple of ways," Colburn
said. "One, as Native Americans they volunteered to fight for a
government that had seriously oppressed them, I'd say. Second, they were
put in specific communication units, and developed a code within their
unwritten language, for use strictly on battlefields so there could be
open air communication on the front lines."
"The code was never broken by the Japanese," he added.
Colburn said that the documentary will probably air in fall 2007 on
public television.