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**VERY RARE**WW2 U.S. Army Native American Indian Code Talkers Wampum Bead Decorated Document Satchel Pouch With Copies Of Paperwork Referencing Garfield T Brown A U.S. Army Lakota Oglala ‘Code Talker’ . Sn 20873 - 20873 The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers. A code talker is the name given to American Indians who used their tribal language to send secret communications on the battlefield. Most people have heard of the famous Navajo (or Diné) code talkers who used their traditional language to transmit secret Allied messages in the Pacific theatre of combat during World War II. But there were at least 14 other Native nations, including the Cherokee and Comanche, that served as code talkers in both the Pacific and Europe during the war. The US Army was the first branch of the military that began recruiting code talkers from places like Oklahoma in 1940. Other branches, such as the US Marines and Navy, followed a few years later, and the first class of 29 Navajo code talker US Marine recruits completed its training in 1942. Apart from basic training, these men had to develop and memorize a unique military code using their mostly unwritten language, and were placed in a guarded room until this task was completed. Most code talkers were assigned in pairs to a military unit. During battle, one person would operate the portable radio while the second person would relay and receive messages in the Native language and translate them into English (a contemporary image of 2 Naïve American code talkers is illustrated in our images). Their work was highly dangerous especially in the Pacific, because Japanese soldiers would deliberately target officers, medics, and radiomen, and code talkers had to keep moving as they transmitted their messages. The work of hundreds of code talkers was essential to Allied victory in World War II, and they were present at many important battles, including at Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion in France, and at Iwo Jima in the Pacific. In fact, 5th Marine Division signal officer Major Howard Connor stated, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.” Despite their heroic contributions during the war, American Indian code talkers were told that they had to keep their work secret. They couldn’t even tell their family members about their communications work. Since the codes that they developed remained unbroken, the US military wanted to keep the program classified in case the code talkers were needed again in future wars. The WWII code talker program was declassified in 1968. In 2001 Congressional Gold Medals were given to the Navajo and other code talkers. The brave actions of the Code talkers was remembered in the 2002 Hollywood war film Windtalkers war film directed and co-produced by John Woo, starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater. This is an original U.S Army WW2 American Indian Code Talkers Document Satchel Pouch. The soft leather pouch is mounted with metal American Eagle badge and has wampum decoration (small cylindrical beads traditionally made by some North American Indian peoples from shells, strung together used for exchange and also worn as decoration and for ceremonial / spiritual purposes). The inside of the pouch has period indistinct hand writing which is translated in the paperwork which accompanies the pouch and can be seen in our images. The paperwork also has examples of Wampum decorated items and references to Garfield T Brown a U.S. Army Lakota Oglala ‘Code Talker’ (when Garfield T. Brown volunteered for the Army at Fort Crook, Neb. in 1942, he did not realize he would play such a pivotal role in World War II and bring back an original flag of the Nazis captured in Aachen, Germany in 1944.
The Oglala Lakota soldier, served with the 32nd field Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, in many conflicts during WWII; including North Africa, Omaha Beach, Normandy, Belgium, and the Battle of the Bulge. His war memorabilia were donated to the Indian Museum of North America at Crazy Horse memorial during the ceremony which is also referenced in the paperwork). The pouch has 2 hanging / security straps with buckles. The leather has just the service wear to be expected. The price for this rare to find piece of historic WW2 equipment with paperwork includes UK delivery. Sn 20873 (Shelf Storeroom)
£475.00
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