Navajo Code Talker Day

My name is Brenda Moreno and I am the Assistant Coordinator of Navajo Code Talker Day 2007. This event takes place on August 14, 2007 and is designed to honor the World War II Navajo Code Talkers both those alive and those who have already passed. President Ronald Reagan established Navajo Code Talker Day to be August 14th and ever since then there has been a celebration on that day in their honor on the Navajo Reservation. This year the event will be escalated due to the decline of the Code Talker population. This event will be the largest in Navajo history because the President of the Navajo Nation, Mr. Shirley, has declared this day to be a Navajo Nation Holiday and attendance to this event should double if not triple it’s attendance.

The Navajo Code Talkers are amazing veterans as I am sure you realize. These men suffered extraordinary sacrifices and they received very little recognition for their success during the War. They returned to their reservation without the honors or heroes welcomes. They were a secret until only recently. My goal is to make sure that these amazing veterans feel that they are appreciated and respected for their duty to our country.

If you have ever seen these men you will notice that they wear many pins, patches and patriotic clothing almost all the time. I am a member of the Castle Rock Young Marines and we recently took 5 of these amazing men to the grand opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in November. Although their finances were extremely limited they purchased even more pins and patches from the museum store. They can never have enough patriotic items or Marine Corps memorabilia. They wear multiple pins, patches, jackets, covers, baseball caps and more. You name it, they want it, however their finances are very low and many of the items that they would like to own they can not afford. That is why I am contacting you at this time.

I was wondering if you have any items that you can donate to make up “goodie bags” to give to the Code Talkers on Navajo Code Talker Day. There are about 40 living Code Talkers and about 20-30 will be there for this event. They are very interested in Large Eagle Globe and Anchor pins to add to their covers. They also love patches, pens (they are always being asked to sign autographs), baseball caps, bumper stickers, books, USMC jackets and other clothes, or any other USMC items that you can spare. If you have anything that you have available to donate I am sure that these men would sincerely appreciate it.

We have another obstacle as well that I am attempting to overcome. I need to raise the funds to pay the traveling expenses for the Marine Corps Band to be able to perform at the event. The Code Talkers really want to have the band there but we would need to pay for the transportation, hotels as well as the food for about 40 band members. Therefore, we are looking for a sponsor for the event that could take care of these expenses and help offset the other costs involved with an event of this proportion.

If you at all willing or able to help sponsor this event or donate items to be given out to the Code Talkers I would greatly appreciate it. Please contact me at NavajoCodeTalkerDay@Hotmail.com. I am available to answer any questions that you may have regarding this event.