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By Pam Nolan

Special to The Greenville Advocate

 

The Fort Dale Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, met on Tuesday, March 19 at the Greenville-Butler County Public Library. Claudia Lewis gave an entertaining presentation of her trip to Norway last fall including a discussion of her witnessing the northern lights. Getting to view the aurora borealis was certainly a bucket list trip for Claudia and for Fort Dale Chapter members through her slides and videos.

Judy Taylor’s National Defense program provided members with a very interesting discussion about the history of the Navajo code talkers. The code talkers included Native Americans from over 30 tribes of which the 400-plus Navajo are the best known. 

Utilizing a complex encrypted code based on their native language to transmit messages over military radios and telephones, code talkers helped the United States win the Pacific front. Many historians agree that this secret weapon helped expedite the end of World War II saving thousands of American lives in the Pacific. 

The code talkers are credited with creating the only unbreakable code in modern military history. When the war was over, they were instructed never to tell anyone what their mission was, only that they were in radio communications. 

The group slowly began receiving national recognition after the code talkers project was declassified in 1968. Since then, nearly every President has honored the code talkers with certificates of appreciation and medals. National Navajo Code Talkers Day is commemorated each year on August 14th to recognize and honor the legacy and history of these national defenders’ contributions to American democracy.

Chapter members enjoyed lunch at Pedro’s following the meeting.