Code Talker: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Before heading to the South Pacific, the marines participate in a training exercise on Hawaii’s Big Island. Half of that island is desert. Ned thinks the Hawaiian desert resembles Dinetah. The lieutenant, Stormy, orders the platoon to cross the desert in two days with an allotment of just one canteen of water each. There is no way of refilling their canteens in the desert, he says. Ned and the three other Navajos look at each other. They’ve all noticed the prickly pear cactuses growing here.

As the marines start out, it grows hot. The other marines can’t help drinking from their canteens, but the Navajos don’t. Whenever Stormy isn’t looking, Ned and his friends cut off a piece of prickly pear and suck out its juices. By the following day, their canteens are still untouched, while the other marines are staggering. Stormy ends up sending the Navajos back to camp to get water for everyone else. They never reveal their secret.

A few days later, Ned ships out for Bougainville. First, however, they stop at Guadalcanal to practice a beach landing. As a native of the desert, Ned finds the rain-drenched South Pacific climate and terrain strange. There are also poisonous centipedes, giant crocodiles, and snakes.

Ned also meets the Solomon Islands natives, who have been harshly mistreated by the occupying Japanese. Ned feels drawn to the islanders, speaking to them more often than most of the white marines do. He particularly remembers a chief named Gene-gene, who’d been tortured by the Japanese for refusing to reveal the Americans’ location. Despite having been repeatedly stabbed, Gene-gene swam three miles through shark-infested waters to warn the American Rangers of the Japanese position.

One day, Gene-gene and Ned have a conversation. They sit silently by the ocean. Finally, Gene-gene touches the ground and then presses his hand to his heart. Ned knows he is expressing his love for his homeland. Ned, in turn, gestures toward the rising sun. They rest their hands against one another’s heartbeats. Ned calls this one of the best conversations he ever had.

For the landing exercise, the marines debark all their equipment and supplies as if it’s a real landing. It’s the first time Ned has set foot on a beach (Guadalcanal) where American marines have died. His partner, Bill Toledo, waits for him at the edge of the jungle. As they watch the rest of the marines calmly disembarking, even laughing and joking, Bill points out that there’s one detail missing—chaos.