On the recordJuly 24, 2018
I rise to honor George B. Willie, Sr., one of our last surviving Navajo code talkers, who passed away at age 92 on December 5, 2017. Mr. Willie was a humble man who never bragged and rarely talked about his uncommon feat. Mr. Willie was born near Sawmill, AZ. He was To Dich'iinii--Bitter Water--and born for Tabaaha--Near The Water Edge--and resided near Leupp when he passed away. Mr. Willie only had a seventh-grade education. He tried to enlist in 1941, but was too young. He was finally able to join the Marines 2 years later, when he was 17 years old. He served the Second Marine Division, 10th Battalion, from 1943 until 1946. As a marine, Mr. Willie was one of the 421 code talkers from the Navajo Nation. The original 29 Navajo code talkers developed a code based on their native language. At that time, there was no written language, and only about 30 persons outside of Tribal members understood Navajo. The code talkers were required to quickly and accurately translate and transmit messages about troop movements, tactics, and the like through telephone and radio. At first skeptical, military leaders quickly learned to appreciate their skill and tremendous value to the war effort. The Japanese never broke their code. While the Federal Government relied on the Navajo language for military success, back home, it continued the longstanding policy of forbidding Native students from speaking their languages at Federal boarding schools. Mr.…
