Code Talker

While the other Task Force is taking Saipan, Ned’s division prepares to land on Guam. The landing is delayed by two months, which gives the Navy a long time to bombard Guam’s coast. This ends up being much more effective than the naval bombardments on other islands. The Marines are especially eager to take Guam because, as Ned had studied in high school, its people, the Chamorros, are American citizens. The Chamorros heroically resisted the Japanese occupation, even when treated cruelly.

Ned reflects that, until long after the war, it was hard for him to think well of the Japanese. This was especially true because of their mistreatment of the native peoples. The Japanese, he says, forgot that all life should be considered holy.

The Guam landing takes place on July 21. Ned and Smitty have to climb and dig in on a steep bluff. The marines are boxed in by the Japanese, so Ned is kept busy at the command post, sending messages back to the command ship. Eventually, though, he moves inland with the others, seeing one ravaged coastal town after another. As the marines move inland, they endure wave after wave of nighttime banzai attacks. When the banzai attackers are not killed by the marines’ machine guns, hand-to-hand combat is sometimes necessary. Ned is grateful that he cannot remember what he did during these nighttime battles.

By mid-August, Guam has been won. In the capital city of Agana, Ned meets some of the Chamorros. They speak English as well as he does. Ned’s heart breaks over their stories of the occupation, which remind him of the Navajo Long Walk. Before long, the Navajos are bringing Chamorros into the marines’ chow lines, and nobody objects. He especially remembers a little boy, Johnny, of about seven years old. Johnny has been orphaned, so Ned and his tent-mate, Wilsie, let Johnny sleep in their tent. When it’s time to pull out from Guam, leaving Johnny behind at the Red Cross station feels like losing a family member.

Sometimes, sad stories have unexpectedly happy endings. One day, a code talker named Charlie Begay is found gravely wounded, apparently dead. Ned and Wilsie sadly follow protocol by placing Charlie’s dog tag in his mouth (so his identification will not get lost) and covering his body with leaves and bark for the graves registration people to collect later. Weeks later, on Guadalcanal, Ned, Wilsie, and other Navajos are stunned when a healthy Charlie Begay is dropped off at their tent. Charlie explains that he was just returning to consciousness when graves registration showed up, and he is now recovered enough to return to duty. His friends are overjoyed.