Latest news with #NavajoCodeTalkers
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘They never expected it to succeed': Sweetwater WASP Museum celebrates 20 years honoring WWII pilots
ABILENE, Texas () – Looking back in history to World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots were superheroes of aviation. They were the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft, and most of them trained in the Big Country, at Avenger Field in Nolan County. This year, the WASP Museum is celebrating 20 years of honoring these pioneers who blazed through the skies more than 80 years ago. Iowa veteran cycles 800+ miles to Sweetwater to honor WASP program It was 1942 when women stepped up to the cockpit during the war, marking the start of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, or WASP. Lisa Taylor is the executive director at the WASP Museum. She taught history for many years, and after moving to Sweetwater and taking a peek inside the museum, she was fascinated by their story, one she said she wished she could have taught her students. 'We talked about the Tuskegee and the Navajo Code Talkers, and I tried to bring in all the facets of World War II because there was so much to it. But I had never heard of these women. We talked about Rosie the Riveter,' Taylor said. 'Not only were they just fighting the barriers of being in the army, Air Corps, but just societal barriers as well, because everyone mistrusted their motivation.' Taylor said she connected with the more than 1,100 female pilots and their resilience. 'It was like, okay, we just can't make it without women. We should start this experimental program. Right. They never expected it to succeed,' Taylor said. 'It was harder as pilots. That was the one area that the government seemed really bent on keeping women out.' WASPs come home to Avenger Field 80 years later With little to no resources, the women had to find their own means to get a pilot's license and also travel to Sweetwater for training. They were given hand-me-down uniforms that the men wore, which were often too big for most women and posed a safety hazard. Jacqueline Cochran, director of the WASP, changed the masculine camouflage to a standout 'Santiago' that still leaves an impact on the U.S. Air Force today. 'Legend has it that she went back and told her, ladies, my girls are not going to wear that dreadful [army green] color,' Taylor said. 'That was how Blue got introduced into the Army Air Corps. That was the first time there was blue. So, I think that we can credit Jackie Cochran with that.' One woman who inspired her was Betty Blake. She was a flight instructor based in Hawaii with 360 hours of flight time. By the time she finished the program, she had 3,600 hours. Blake, among many of the other women, faced societal backlash and disbelief for their service. Taylor said Blake was arrested due to her uniform having pants when she had to make a pit stop from a flight due to weather. 'Betty Blake, being arrested for wearing pants, this was what they were dealing with because of the scandalous for a woman to be in public in pants like that. They could be denied meals in a restaurant on nights in a hotel room,' Taylor said. 'She inspired us': Dyess AFB pilots continue WASPS legacy When the program ended in 1944 and the men started to return from war, the WASP returned to their everyday lives, not receiving recognition until more than 30 years later, and being delayed from a return to the skies because of their gender. 'None of the women who had joined the workforce during World War II really got to stay. I mean, the men came home, and they left. It became this 'Hey, that was really nice of you, but we're back,' Taylor explained. 'For a lot of women, it was so hard. They got out and they were determined to find professional jobs in aviation, and they applied to all the commercial airlines, all the private airlines, and they were just told no again and again and again.' 17 WASP have their ashes spread across the Avenger Field as part of a new memorial garden featured outside of the museum. The museum in Sweetwater is the only one dedicated solely to the WWII WASP veterans. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Native veterans living and dead are remembered at Steele Indian School Park for Memorial Day
The Phoenix Indian Center and the Veterans Administration's Phoenix regional office honored Native veterans with a ceremony at Steele Indian School Park May 23. The event was held at the American Indian Veterans Memorial at the park's central flagpole, part of the site of the now-closed Indian boarding school. Among the speakers were descendants of Navajo Code Talkers, the Marines who used their ancestral language to create an unbreakable code during World War II, a Navajo woman veteran and Michael Welsh, deputy director for the Phoenix VA health care system. VA staff were also on hand to provide information and enroll veterans or their families for social service programs. Shine Jozefiak, a Diné U.S. Air Force veteran who now works as a community care specialist at the VA, recounted her time serving in emergency rooms during Operation Enduring Freedom. "I joined the Air Force to make my grandparents proud," said Jozefiak, who grew up on her grandparents' ranch outside Fort Defiance. Her grandfather Herbert Chee was a Korean War veteran. Many Native people came through the emergency room, where Jozefiak and others would treat and prepare them to be transported to Germany for long-term treatment. "We remember hearing taps, and cried when we saw the flag draped over a coffin," she said. "When the doctors declared a soldier had died, everything stopped. You could hear a pin drop because you know what happened." Jozefiak also said that she would speak in Navajo to wounded soldiers when they were brought in to the ER. "'It's so good to hear our language so far from home,' they would tell me as I prepped them for transport," she said. The honoring ceremony concluded with laying a hand-crafted wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the foot of one of the four pillars of the memorial. Each pillar commemorates a group of veterans who served and sacrificed for their nation, including Native veterans who paid the ultimate price for freedom. Welsh said the employees made the four-foot-diameter wreath because they couldn't locate one that size. Missing from the conversation was the fate of the tribal flags that had been on display in the lobby of the Phoenix VA Hospital for about 40 years. In March, the flags were unceremoniously removed in compliance with a new VA policy limiting which flags can be displayed on VA grounds. Tribal VA staff, not wishing for the flags to be stuffed into a closet and forgotten, took them to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which accepted them for safekeeping. A week later, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs accepted the flags to be displayed in the Capitol Rotunda, where they now reside. Hobbs invited a group of Native veterans and tribal leaders to see the flags April 8. "Phoenix Indian Center recognizes the importance of the Native community's military veterans over the years," said Warren Kontz, the Indian center's director of programs. "Native people have always protected their own lands." Kontz, who belongs to the Muscogee Creek and Navajo nations, said Memorial Day reflects Indigenous resiliency. "We recognize those who did not return," he said, "and we think of our ancestors who fought for this land." Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Indian Center, VA honor Native veterans for Memorial Day
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Navajo Code Talker links restored on DOD sites; other Native stories still missing
Navajo Code Talker links restored on DOD sites; other Native stories still missing Show Caption Hide Caption Navajo Code Talkers Day celebration at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix Sen. Theresa Hatathlie speaks and WWII Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay speaks - and sings - at the Navajo Code Talkers Day celebration in Phoenix. Arizona Republic The Defense Department scrubbed histories of Navajo Code Talkers from some of its websites but said the information would be returned. The Defense Department told Navajo leaders the Code Talker items were removed as part of an automated review of materials that could violate Trump DEI policies. Other Native stories are still missing, including mentions of Ira Hayes, one of the Marines photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima, and Hopi soldier Lori Piestewa. After widespread public scrutiny, the U.S. Department of Defense and Army restored some articles about the Navajo Code Talkers on Wednesday after previously removing them. Links to Navajo Code Talker articles on the websites were noticeably broken and unavailable on Monday, but by Wednesday, certain links were working, and the articles had been restored. Articles on individual Navajo Army soldiers as well as articles on Native American Heritage month continued to be broken and not accessible. The Code Talkers histories were scrubbed from the Pentagon websites as part of a review of materials that violated President Donald Trump's order regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. The Navajo Nation Council posted on its social media feeds that the content was restored on the Department of Defense websites after assurances to President Buu Nygren that the materials would be available. It wasn't clear at the time when the materials would be restored. "The restoration of the Navajo Code Talkers' articles is a necessary step, but it does not erase the harm caused by their initial removal," said Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalyne Curley. "The service of the Code Talkers was crucial to the success of World War II, and their legacy must be continually recognized and honored, beyond any political agenda." The Navajo Nation Council had voiced its opposition to the removal of content honoring the Navajo Code Talkers. The council said the Pentagon acknowledged the removal was a "mistake." Nygren credited the Navajo Nation's Washington Office for its advocacy and a letter to the Department of Defense. "I want to assure the Navajo people that we remain in close communication with federal officials to ensure the legacy of our cherished Navajo Code Talkers is never erased from American and Navajo history," Nygren said. "As sovereign nations, we are not defined by DEI classifications. We are political sovereigns with treaties and a long-standing relationship with the U.S. government." DEI fallout: Colleges cancel Native convocations to comply with Trump order, disappointing students Material about other Native soldiers removed The Defense Department said the removal resulted from an automated process complying with a DEI policy directive. While some pages had been restored, others remain offline, displaying server errors. The Pentagon has pledged to fully resolve the issue. Some links that lead to articles on individual Navajo soldiers or mention of Native American Heritage Month still aren't working on the Army page, suggesting that the removal falls in line with Trump's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion. A Feb 26. memo from Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of defense, ordered Pentagon departments to "take all practicable steps, consistent with records management requirements, to remove all DoD news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)." He gave them a deadline of March 5. The memo said all articles, photos and videos removed from the websites and social media platforms must be "archived and retained in accordance with applicable records management policies." It wasn't just the Navajo Code Talker links that were broken: Items about other notable Native American military members were also removed from the Defense website, including one on Ira Hayes, a Pima/Akimel O'odham Marine from Sacaton. Hayes was one of the Marines famously photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima in World War II. Some items about Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, a Hopi soldier who was the first Native American woman to die in combat on foreign soil, were also removed. She was killed in 2003 in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her vehicle during an ambush. Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said the removal of Native American veterans, such as Ira Hayes, is unacceptable and unfortunate. "To be clear, recognizing the patriotism and courage of Native American soldiers has nothing to do with any type of DEl initiative," Lewis said. "It's simply an offering of respect for extraordinary service and bravery in the line of duty. Every single reference that has been scrubbed should be returned to these websites as soon as possible." Fallout: DOD, Army websites scrub articles on Navajo Code Talkers. Here's how that may change Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and Send ideas and tips to
Politico
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Pentagon admits to mistakes in campaign against ‘DEI' content
The Pentagon is conceding it made mistakes as it rushed to remove articles and images celebrating diversity from its social media and websites, a campaign that resulted in moves such as removing tributes to Jackie Robinson and the flag-raising at Iwo Jima. 'Some content was archived that should not have been,' the Department of Defense said in a statement Friday. The Pentagon said it would be reviewing the material that was purged as part of a campaign to remove content celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion — an effort that has sparked widespread criticism and ridicule. As part of the effort, the department removed articles and images of baseball legend Jackie Robinson , the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen. It also pulled pulled the historic photos of six Marines hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 because it was on a page celebrating Army Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian. A biography of World War II veteran and civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1963 and whom President Donald Trump called a 'great American hero' in 2017, was erased from the Arlington National Cemetery website. The purge followed Trump's executive order ending diversity programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department, which he has criticized as too 'woke.' Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a video statement Thursday that 'some important content was incorrectly' removed. He blamed 'AI tools' for the errors and said purged material would be reviewed. 'When content is either mistakenly removed or if it's maliciously removed, we continue to work quickly to restore it,' Parnell said. The Pentagon says it aims to honor service members based on merit rather than 'immutable characteristics' like race, ethnicity, or gender. Some of the deleted tributes — such as those for Robinson and the Navajo Code Talkers — were reinstated after public backlash. But many tributes to non-white service members remain unavailable, often leading to 404 error messages.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon admits to mistakes in campaign against 'DEI' content
The Pentagon is conceding it made mistakes as it rushed to remove articles and images celebrating diversity from its social media and websites, a campaign that resulted in moves such as deleting tributes to Jackie Robinson and the flag-raising at Iwo Jima. "Some content was archived that should not have been," the Department of Defense said in a statement Friday. The Pentagon said it would be reviewing the material that was purged as part of a campaign to remove content celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion — an effort that has sparked widespread criticism and ridicule. As part of the effort, the department removed articles and images of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen. It also pulled pulled the historic photos of six Marines hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 because it was on a page celebrating Army Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian. A biography of World War II veteran and civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1963 and whom President Donald Trump called a 'great American hero" in 2017, was erased from the Arlington National Cemetery website. The purge followed Trump's executive order ending diversity programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department, which he has criticized as too 'woke.' Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a video statement Thursday that 'some important content was incorrectly" removed. He blamed 'AI tools' for the errors and said purged material would be reviewed. 'When content is either mistakenly removed or if it's maliciously removed, we continue to work quickly to restore it,' Parnell said. The Pentagon says it aims to honor service members based on merit rather than 'immutable characteristics' like race, ethnicity, or gender. Some of the deleted tributes — such as those for Robinson and the Navajo Code Talkers — were reinstated after public backlash. But many tributes to non-white service members remain unavailable, often leading to 404 error messages.
