Editing Code talker (section)

==Post-war recognition==
[[File:Navajo code talker Thomas Begay.jpg|thumb|Navajo code talker veteran Thomas Begay with a framed picture commemorating National Navajo Code Talkers Day]]
The Navajo code talkers received no recognition until 1968 when their operation was declassified.<ref name=dp>{{cite news |first=Felicia |last=Fonseca |title=Navajo Code Talker dead at age 82 |url=http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_8232269 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[The Denver Post]] |date=February 11, 2008 |access-date=March 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330130935/http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_8232269 |archive-date=March 30, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1982, the code talkers were given a Certificate of Recognition by US President [[Ronald Reagan]], who also named August 14, 1982 as Navajo Code Talkers Day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lapahie.com/Navajo_Reagan.cfm |title=National Navaho Code Talkers Day |website=Lapahie.com |date=August 14, 1982 |access-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206234222/http://www.lapahie.com/Navajo_Reagan.cfm |archive-date=February 6, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/navajo-code-talkers/index.html |title=Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code |work=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |date=November 6, 2008 |access-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327055830/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/navajo-code-talkers/index.html |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/video/the-warrior-tradition-fkaz4h/|title=The Warrior Tradition|website=pbs.org|access-date=March 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115052715/https://www.pbs.org/video/the-warrior-tradition-fkaz4h/|archive-date=November 15, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-14 |title=Navajo code talkers: Remembering the men behind the code - VA News |url=https://news.va.gov/22205/navajo-code-talkers-remembering-the-men-behind-the-code/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |language=en-US}}</ref>

On December 21, 2000, President [[Bill Clinton]] signed Public Law 106–554, 114 Statute 2763, which awarded the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] to the original 29 World War II Navajo code talkers and [[Congressional Silver Medal|Silver Medals]] to each person who qualified as a Navajo code talker (approximately 300). In July 2001, President [[George W. Bush]] honored the code talkers by presenting the medals to four surviving original code talkers (the fifth living original code talker was unable to attend) at a ceremony held in the [[Capitol Rotunda]] in Washington, DC. Gold medals were presented to the families of the deceased 24 original code talkers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Navajo code talkers honored after 56 years|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/07/26/code.talkers/index.html?iref=allsearch|access-date=2014-08-03|publisher=CNN|date=2001-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810155627/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/07/26/code.talkers/index.html?iref=allsearch|archive-date=August 10, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-106publ554/pdf/PLAW-106publ554.pdf |title=P.L. 106-554, see 114 Stat. 2763A–311 |publisher=gpo.gov |access-date=2012-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925032105/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-106publ554/pdf/PLAW-106publ554.pdf |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Journalist [[Patty Talahongva]] directed and produced a documentary, ''The Power of Words: Native Languages as Weapons of War'', for the [[Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian]] in 2006, bringing to light the story of Hopi code talkers. In 2011, Arizona established April 23, as an annual recognition day for the Hopi code talkers.<ref name="Magahern" /> The [[Texas Medal of Valor]] was awarded posthumously to 18 Choctaw code talkers for their World War II service on September 17, 2007, by the Adjutant General of the State of Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=192100 |title=Texas military honors Choctaw code talkers |last=Mendez |first=Kendra |date=September 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601033024/http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=192100 |archive-date=June 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=May 2, 2008}}</ref>

The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–420)<ref>{{Cite web |last=U.S. House. 110th Congress. |date=2007–2008 |title=Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008, H.R.4544. |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/4544/text# |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Congress.gov}}</ref> was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]] on November 15, 2008. The Act recognized every Native American code talker who served in the United States military during WWI or WWII (except the already-awarded Navajo) with a Congressional Gold Medal. Approximately 50 tribes were recognized.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vergun |first=David |date=October 31, 2024 |title=Code Talkers helped U.S. win World Wars I and II |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/3951611/code-talkers-helped-us-win-world-wars-i-and-ii/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305181224/https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/3951611/code-talkers-helped-us-win-world-wars-i-and-ii/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2025-03-05 |access-date=2025-03-21 }}</ref> The act was designed to be distinct for each tribe, with silver duplicates awarded to the individual code talkers or their next-of-kin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ420/pdf/PLAW-110publ420.pdf |title=P.L. 110-420 |publisher=gpo.gov |access-date=2012-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921191244/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ420/pdf/PLAW-110publ420.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2013, 33 tribes have been identified and been honored at a ceremony at [[Emancipation Hall]] at the US Capitol Visitor Center. One surviving code talker was present, Edmond Harjo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Treasury-and-Mint-Join-Congress-to-Honor-Native-American-Code-Talkers-.aspx |title=Treasury and Mint Join Congress to Honor Native American Code Talkers |publisher=treasury.gov |access-date=2015-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427212327/http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Treasury-and-Mint-Join-Congress-to-Honor-Native-American-Code-Talkers-.aspx |archive-date=April 27, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On November 27, 2017, three Navajo code talkers, joined by the [[President of the Navajo Nation]], [[Russell Begaye]], appeared with President [[Donald Trump]] in the [[Oval Office]] in an official White House ceremony. They were there to "pay tribute to the contributions of the young Native Americans recruited by the United States military to create top-secret coded messages used to communicate during World War II battles."<ref name="NYT_code_talkers_2017">{{cite news |title=Trump Mocks Warren as 'Pocahontas' at Navajo Veterans' Event |date=November 27, 2017 |access-date=November 28, 2017 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Julie Hirschfeld |last=Davis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/us/politics/trump-elizabeth-warren-pocahontas-navajo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171127223316/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/us/politics/trump-elizabeth-warren-pocahontas-navajo.html |archive-date=November 27, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The executive director of the [[National Congress of American Indians]], [[Jacqueline Pata]], noted that Native Americans have "a very high level of participation in the military and veterans' service." A statement by a Navajo Nation Council Delegate and comments by Pata and Begaye, among others, objected to Trump's remarks during the event, including his use "once again ... [of] the word ''Pocahontas'' in a negative way towards a political adversary Elizabeth Warren who claims 'Native American heritage'."<ref name="NYT_code_talkers_2017"/><ref name="code_talkers_2017">{{cite news |title=Statement in response to remarks by President Trump |date=November 27, 2017 |access-date=November 28, 2017 |agency=The Navajo Nation |location=Window Rock, Arkansas |url=https://twitter.com/electgarrick/status/935363089293238272 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521001039/https://twitter.com/electgarrick/status/935363089293238272 |archive-date=May 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Navajo_Nation_Statement_(November_27,_2017) |title=Navajo Nation Statement (November 27, 2017) |via=Wikisource |date=November 27, 2017 |access-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042347/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Navajo_Nation_Statement_(November_27,_2017) |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The National Congress of American Indians objected to Trump's use of the name [[Pocahontas]], a historical Native American figure, as a derogatory term.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/families-navajo-code-talkers-slam-122710613.html |title=Families of Navajo Code Talkers Slam President Trump for 'Pocahontas' Slur |last=Fonseca |first=Felicia |date=November 28, 2017 |magazine=Time |agency=Associated Press |via=[[Yahoo! News]] |access-date=March 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207202500/https://news.yahoo.com/families-navajo-code-talkers-slam-122710613.html |archive-date=February 7, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On March 17, 2025, ''[[Axios (website)|Axios]]'' reported that numerous articles about Native American Code Talkers were removed from some military websites. According to its reporting, ''Axios'' identified at least 10 articles which had disappeared from the U.S. Army and Department of Defense websites. Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot is quoted in response: "As Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department. ... We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alberty |first=Erin |date=2025-03-17 |title=Navajo Code Talkers get "DEI" label as military info disappears under Trump order |url=https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/03/17/navajo-code-talkers-trump-dei-military-websites-wwii |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=[[Axios (website)|Axios]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/native-american-code-talkers-dei-military |title=Articles about Native American code talkers removed from military websites |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Lauren |last=Aratani |date=March 18, 2025 |access-date=March 18, 2025}}</ref>