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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Carraro
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/25/06
HB
SHORT TITLE
NAVAJO CODE TALKER DOCUMENTARY FILM
SB 336
ANALYST Weber
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$250.0
Non-Rec
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Indian Affairs Department (IAD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 336 appropriates $250 thousand from the general fund to the Indian Affairs
Department for the purpose of producing a documentary on Navajo code talkers that notes the
code talker’s contribution during World War II. The funds may be expended in FY06 and FY07.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $250 thousand contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the
general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall
revert to the general fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The Indian Affairs Department documents the following:
The United States was at war in Europe, and on December 7, 1941, were faced with a second
front as the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor.
One of the intelligence weapons the Japanese military possessed was an elite group of well
trained English speaking soldiers, used to intercept U.S. communications, then sabotage the
message or issue false commands to ambush American troops. Military code became more and
pg_0002
Senate Bill 336 – Page 2
more complex – at Guadalcanal, military leaders complained that it took two and one half hours
to send and decode a single message.
After being convinced of the possibility of success by the son of a missionary who was raised on
the Navajo reservation, the Marine Corps called upon the Navajo Nation to support the military
effort by recruiting and enlisting Navajo men to serve as Marine Corps Radio Operators. These
Navajo Marines, who became known as the Navajo Code Talkers, used the Navajo language to
develop a unique code to communicate military messages in the South Pacific. The code
developed by these Native Americans proved unbreakable and was used throughout the Pacific
theater.
Their accomplishment was even more heroic given the cultural context in which they were
operating. Subjected to alienation in their own homeland and discouraged from speaking their
own language, they still stepped forward and developed the most significant and successful
military code of the time. The Code was so successful that military commanders credited it with
saving the lives of countless American soldiers and the successful engagements of the U.S. in the
battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard
Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines
would never have taken Iwo Jima." Major Connor had six Navajo Code Talkers working around
the clock during the first 48hours of the battle. Those six sent and received over 800 messages,
all without error.
In fact, the code was so successful that the Department of Defense kept the Code secret for 23
years after the end of World War II, when it was finally declassified in 1968 – and there lies the
foundation of the problem. If their achievements had been hailed at the conclusion of the war,
proper honors would have been bestowed at that time. But the Code Talkers were sworn to
secrecy, an oath they kept and honored, but at the same time, one that robbed them of the very
accolades and place in history they so rightly deserved. Their ranks include veterans of
Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; they gave their lives at New Britain, Bougainville,
Guam, and Peleliu. But, at the end of the war, these unsung heroes returned to their homes on
buses – no parades, no fanfare, no special recognition for what they had truly accomplished –
because while the war was over, their duty – their oath of secrecy – continued. When the
secrecy surrounding the code was finally declassified, only then did a realization of the sacrifice
and valor of these brave Native Americans begin to emerge. (www.bingaman.senate.gov).
The Navajo Code Talkers each received gold and silver Congressional Medals after introduction
of federal legislation, Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers Act” (P.L. 106-554), by New Mexico
Senator Jeff Bingaman in 2000. These medals are express recognition by the United States of
America and its citizens of the Navajo Code Talkers who distinguished themselves in performing
a unique, highly successful communications operation that greatly assisted in saving countless
lives and in hastening the end of World War II in the Pacific theater.
(www.bingaman.senate.gov).
This bill would document the contributions and achievements of the Navajo Code Talkers. Part
of this effort would involve the State partnering with the Navajo Nation, with the Navajo Code
Talkers Association and the remaining Navajo Code Talkers still alive to tell their stories,
especially in the history of the Navajo Nation before and after World War II.
MW/nt