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HUNTSVILLE — The Museum of Scott County and USS Tennessee Battleship Museum hosted some unique guests last week, all the way from Arizona.
Museum curators Gary Sexton and Paul and Karen Dawson hosted several members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association (NCTA) and U.S. Marine Corps for a tour of the museums, which are located on the campus of Scott High School.
Bill Toledo, a Navajo code talker who served with the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, was part of the delegation.
Toledo, 85, was near the front lines of several key battles in the Pacific Theater, and today travels the country speaking of his experiences. His travels landed him in East Tennessee on Tuesday, where he spoke to an audience at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
“We were looking for a museum incorporating World War II and the Museum of Scott County was just an hour from Knoxville,” Marine Capt. Paul Bertolone said.
Toledo and his fellow travelers were also interested in learning about the process of establishing the museum, which is student-built and operated, using private funding. Ground is soon to be broken on the Navajo Code Talkers Museum and Veterans Center in northwestern New Mexico. Last summer, Chevron donated more than 200 acres for the museum, which will be built by the NCTA.
Wanda Arviso, a descendant of a code talker who, along with NCTA Secretary Yvonne Murphy, escorted Toledo on his trip to East Tennessee, said the Navajo code talkers museum will commemorate the Navajos’ service in World War II.
After being pioneered by Choctaw Indians serving in the U.S. Army in World War I, code talking played a crucial role in World War II.
Navajos were recruited to serve with the Marines in WWII after it was estimated that fewer than 30 non-Navajos in the world could understand the tribe’s complex language. By speaking code words in their native tongues, code talkers could transmit messages securely over military radio.
After the Battle of Iwo Jima, Marine Maj. Howard Connor stated, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”
Toledo, who served from 1942 to 1945, was at Iwo Jima, as well as the Battle of Guam, where he narrowly escaped a sniper’s bullets. On a later occasion, he was mistaken by fellow Marines for a Japanese soldier and taken prisoner.
The Navajos were sworn to secrecy after the war, and their service wasn’t officially recognized for more than two decades.
