| Navajo Code Talker Speaks at Seacoast Rep |
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Chester Nez, surviving member of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, will share his experience with seacoast residents on August 18 at 2:00 pm at the Seacoast Repertory Theater. Nez and others developed a code within their native Navajo language to aid the WWII effort against the Japanese. (Continued below)
The code remains the only unbroken code in modern warfare. Nez will speak about his experiences as a Code Talker in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal and
About this amazing feat, Chester Nez said, “We never thought it would work, but we developed a code that the Japanese could not understand.”
The conversation will be moderated by Chase Bailey, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran himself, Bailey served as a Marine from 1967 to 1971 including duty in Viet Nam and is now a local filmmaker. Bailey is enthusiastic about his role in the Nez presentation and said, “Meeting and talking with another Marine who we studied in boot camp, and came to revere, will be nothing short of fantastic. Both my father and father in-law served in the military; I love veterans and what they have done for our country and am honored to play a role in sharing the importance of the Code Talkers with the public.”
The event will be filmed by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and sponsored, in part, by Cross Insurance and Optima Bank. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at seacoastrep.org. Proceeds from the event on August 18 will go to Veterans Count which provides essential assistance to NH military service members and their families -- ninety-five cents of every dollar raised for Veterans Count goes directly to the people who need it most. There will be a book signing following the talk at 4:00 with Chester Nez and co-author Judith Avila for Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir of the Original Navajo Coder Talkers of WW II. Books are to be purchased separately and the signing will be open to the public.