http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35730,00.html Clinton Honors Navajo Heroes by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 6:00 a.m. Apr. 18, 2000 PDT SHIPROCK, NEW MEXICO -- The World War II code was as obscure as possible: "wol-la-chee" represented the letter A, but so did "be-la-sana" and "tse-nill." The letter R also could be transmitted in different ways, using the corresponding words for rabbit, ram, and rice, according to a system that a group of Navajo "codetalkers" developed in 1942 for the U.S. Marine Corps. Their efforts at obfuscation led to "countless" military victories, President Clinton said Monday at an event where he highlighted the accomplishments of the roughly 420 Navajo tribe members turned cryptographers who served in WWII. "The United States may never have taken Iwo Jima, or won countless other battles in the Pacific, if it weren't for the bravery, the sacrifice, and the unbreakability of the code of the Navajo code talkers," Clinton told a cheering audience of over 10,000 Navajo nation members. Only perhaps a dozen of the code talkers showed up to the event, sitting in the front row in brilliant yellow formal garb. The aging code talkers -- the ones who were 20 in 1942 would be nearly 80 now -- participated in the "digital divide" event as the president's honor guard. Some of the other remaining code talkers reportedly stayed away from the event -- they have eschewed parades and other commemorative ceremonies -- to avoid glorifying war. [...] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
