Navajo Warrior Tradition In The United States Military

This video will speak for itself in visuals, in text, and in song. It is a very interesting presentation about the warrior traditions of the Native American Peoples, in particular the Navajo, and begins with the universal ideals that are shared by most, if not all of the Native American Peoples. You will clearly see, too, that these values and warrior virtues are a natural fit for service in the military.

Strength, honor, pride, devotion, wisdom: These are the values of the Native warrior tradition. These values caused many Native Americans, including hundreds of Navajos, to join the military at the beginning of WWII, even though they were not as yet considered citizens of the United States. This part of 20th century history is covered in the middle of the video and especially deals with the history of the Navajo Code Talkers, and their incredibly important role in turning the tide of victory in favor of the U.S. and our allies in the Pacific theater.

One of the things that I did not know before about the Code Talkers comes out in this part, that is, that a handful of Navajo Code Talkers were taken as POWs by the Japanese and were tortured to get their secret code out of them and not one of them ever talked.

The end of the video expands on the incredible service that Navajos and other Native Americans continue to give to their country. As has been said before, there is no other ethnic group in America that has given more young men and women, per capita, to the military services of the United States of America than Native Americans. They serve in every branch of the military and are proudly serving all around the world.

The pride that the Navajos and all of the other Native American Peoples have for their warriors today, can be seen at Pow Wows and ceremonial events. The tribal veterans lead the parades in the opening ceremonies and occupy a special place of honor throughout the Pow Wows.

Many of us living veterans today can say that we have had the honor of serving with our Native American brothers and sisters-in-arms and seeing those values of Strength, Honor, Pride, Devotion, and Wisdom lived out on the field of battle. We send our thanks to all Native Americans who have served and who are presently serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.