By Carly Campbell
John Brown Jr., one of the original Navajo Code Talkers, spoke Friday to BYU history students about his part in history during World War II and the honor of serving his country.
The Navajo Code talkers were a group of 29 Navajo Indians that developed a code of military terms from their language. That code could not be broken by the Japanese because Navajo was an unwritten language.
'I wanted to defend the United States of America in the war against the Japanese empire,' Brown said.
He defended the U.S., but not in the way he expected.
Brown enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942, leaving his mother and girlfriend, without the expectation of becoming a code talker. The 29 Navajo Indians from Brown''s unit were put through a rigorous physical examination. Then were sent to boot camp and finally to radio training.
'They called us into a room after training, we didn''t know we what was in store,' Brown said.
The soldiers were told of the top-secret assignment to create a code out of their unwritten language.
'The Navajo language is derived from several Chinese Tibetan languages where precision is everything,' said Dr. Samuel Billison, president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association.
Billison said where English can be spoken sloppily and still be understood, that''s not the case with Navajo.
'We had the Japanese completely baffled,' Brown said.
William Meadows, an assistant professor of anthropology at Southwest Missouri State University, said the Navajo culture was looked down at this point in history.
'Most code talkers had attended schools where the use of their languages was banned and their culture discredited,' he said.
Nonetheless, they were eager to serve, and none of the American Indian languages or codes used by the armed forces is known to ever have been broken, he said.
Brown was presented with a gold medal by George W. Bush, along with the three remaining members, at a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring the original Navajo Code Talkers.
Browns granddaughter Crystal McCombs is a history major at BYU and is proud of her grandfather.
'We are very lucky to have him here today,' she said. 'He did so much for our country.'
Brown was made an honorary member of the Helaman''s 2000, a group of BYU ROTC alumni, in 1998 by Lt. Col. Donald A. Coe, professor of military science.
'Dad was more excited about this award than he was when he met George Bush,' said Brown''s daughter Ruth Anne McCombs.
Students in the American Indian history class were excited to hear from Brown.
'Being a part of this was a huge honor,' said Brynn Janke, a senior majoring in history. Janke said she is taking the class because she thinks American Indian history is under emphasized in school today.
'Navajo Code talkers were an important factor to help us win the war,' said Bryan Nichols, a junior studying history. 'It was so neat to see this living history.'
Brown spoke in Navajo and even sang a song in Navajo written about Iwo Jima.
Brown said he was proud to serve his country, and what he learned from the war, he will teach to his grandchildren to teach to their grand children.
'Our experiences have shown us how fragile things can be and how we must stay ever vigilant to protect them,' Brown said.