Code Talker

by

Joseph Bruchac

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Code Talker makes teaching easy.
Smitty is a fellow marine and close friend of Ned’s. He is originally from Boston, and his real name is John Smith. Though Ned doesn’t know it at the time, Smitty has been assigned to keep a close watch on Ned to make sure he isn’t mistaken for an enemy soldier by other marines.
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Smitty Character Timeline in Code Talker

The timeline below shows where the character Smitty appears in Code Talker. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12: Learning the Code
Memory, Language, and Identity Theme Icon
The Navajo Way and the Life of the Warrior Theme Icon
Culture and Patriotism Theme Icon
...They wear ceremonial clothing and perform some dances and songs. Corporal Radant and Ned’s friend Smitty even try to join in the dancing. They close the program by singing a Navajo... (full context)
Chapter 18: On Bougainville
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
On Bougainville, Ned spends a lot of time with Smitty, a friend of his from Camp Elliott. Long after the war, Ned learns that Smitty... (full context)
Culture and Patriotism Theme Icon
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
One day, Smitty points out a brown-haired lieutenant getting out of a boat and asks Ned if he’d... (full context)
Chapter 19: Do You Have a Navajo?
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...talkers, but instead he’s “ill at ease,” worrying about his friends, like Georgia Boy and Smitty, who are still fighting. He no longer thinks of those men as white strangers, but... (full context)
Chapter 20: The Next Targets
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...The ultimate objective is to reach Japan itself. Ned is reunited with Georgia Boy and Smitty in the operation’s Southern Task Force. Their first objective will be the island of Guam. (full context)
Chapter 21: Guam
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
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... (full context)
Chapter 25: In Sight of Suribachi
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...remains silent, as if dead. Ned is part of the first landing wave, along with Smitty. He and Smitty feel as if they are one another’s good luck charms. (full context)
Chapter 26: The Black Beach
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...the island itself, the loose, deep black sand makes it nearly impossible for Ned and Smitty to scramble up Mount Suribachi. When they reach the top, they realize that the Japanese... (full context)
Memory, Language, and Identity Theme Icon
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...gunpowder, and—worst of all—burning skin. Ned remembers hastily eating his steak sandwich as he and Smitty keep shoveling black sand out of their foxhole. (full context)
Chapter 29: Going Home
Memory, Language, and Identity Theme Icon
The Navajo Way and the Life of the Warrior Theme Icon
War, Healing, and Peace Theme Icon
...seemed new and threatening about the jungle now seems beautiful to him. He dreams that Smitty is shaking him awake in the foxhole, telling him that the Japanese have retreated and... (full context)