Johnny looked down at his plate and smiled. He was honored and a little embarrassed by the way we had teasingly praised him.
We did not know how wrong we were. As far as I know, not one Navajo code talker
was ever raised above the rank of corporal, just as none of us were ever given any
kind of official recognition or honor from the time we enlisted until the surrender of
Japan. In fact, most of us never even got to wear one of those dress blue uniforms like
that first one I saw on the Marine Corps recruitment poster. We were kept invisible. It
was partially because our true duty was kept such a secret from so many. But I think it
was also because we were Indians in what was still, even in the Marines, a white
man's world. It was easy to forget Indians.