Memorial for Navajo code talkers, NMI marine scouts pushed

The leadership of the 17th Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council recently endorsed the funding request of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios to install a permanent commemorative memorial court of honor for the Marianas marine scouts and the Navajo code talkers, in appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice by these two groups in the Battle of Saipan: Operation Forager from June 15 to July 9, 1944, by the code talkers and from August 1944 to September 1945 by some 50 Chamorro and Carolinian marine scouts recruited by the U.S. Marines.

On Aug. 14, 1982, over 30 years later following the Battle of Saipan, U.S. President Ronald Regan declared National Navajo Code Talkers Day, saying the code talkers played an instrumental role in the Pacific War from 1942 to 1945.

A little over 50 years later, on Jan. 31, 2000, Robert Underwood, who was the Guam delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, stood and eloquently delivered before the U.S. House of Representatives a rousing “At Last America Remembers Marianas Scouts” speech, naming by their full names the stewards of peace in the Battle of Saipan’s Operation Forager (Ignacio Reyes Ada, Antonio M. Aguon, Antonio Angailen, Pedro SN. Attao, Santiago Miyasaki Babauta, Antonio Manahane, Benavente, Juan V. Benavente, Daniel T. Borja, Gregorio Flores Borja, Gregorio Camacho Cabrera, Juan Camacho Cabrera, Albert S. Camacho, Lorenzo Tudela Camacho, Cristino S. Dela Cruz, Joaquin Duenas Dela Cruz, Bernardo C. Deleon Guerrero, Joaquin C. Deleon Guerrero, Jose S. Deleon Guerrero, Lorenzo Diaz Deleon Guerrero, Serafin Borja Kaipat, Juan Limes, Rafael C. Mafnas, Jose Blas Magofna, Miguel Blaz Magofna, Pedro Mettao, Nicolas Quidachai Muna, Francisco Nekai, Juan Quitugua Norita, Isidro Limes Ogarto, Francisco C. Palacios, Joaquin B. Pangelian, Juan San Nicolas Pangelian, Edward M. Peter, Jose Roberto Quitano, Benigno A. Rabauliman, Antonio T. Rogolofoi, Isidro R. Rogopes, Vicente T. Rosario, Ignacio Mangarero Sablan, Segundo Tudela Sablan, Herberto San Nicolas, Pedro F. Sakisat, Felipe Agulto Salas, Gofredo Aguon Sanchez, Juan A. Sanchez, Guillermo P. Saures, Felipe McGuiness Seman, Juan Malus Tagabuel, Benedicto Satur Taisacan, Antonio Camacho Tenorio, Antonio P. Tenorio, Vicente Olaitiman Taman, Miguel Pangelinan Tenorio, Pedro Peter Teregeyo, and Manuel Seman Villagomez).

In a letter of support to Carmen G. Cantor, assistant secretary for the Office of Insular and International Affairs, the Saipan council leadership underscored the role of the code talkers as pivotal in their enigmatic way of encoding messages that literally confused the Japanese command post on the location of the U.S. soldiers and the direction Operation Forager was headed, and pivoted the manner in which World War II ended in the Battle of Saipan.

For their part, after the major bombardment on Saipan by the combined forces of the U.S. Marines, Army and Navy, a few carefully vetted local civilians were conscripted into the U.S. Marine battalion: their singular duty was to ensure the continuing safety of U.S. soldiers and local civilians following Operation Forager. These civilian marines were chosen by the U.S. Marines because of their insights and knowledge on Japanese military hideouts in tunnels and caves, including the locations of the Japanese gun emplacements, no less their familiarity of the terrains throughout Saipan and fluency in the Japanese language.

The local council leadership is joined by former governor Juan N. Babauta, a former CNMI Washington representative and author-publisher of Now for Then: The Marianas Marine Scouts, who said: “As a former Washington representative and former CNMI governor, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with…Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ funding assistance for the permanent installation of a well-deserved court of honor for the Navajo Code Talkers and the Marianas Marine Scouts on Saipan at the American Memorial Park or other suitable locations on Saipan.”

John “Liling” S. Reyes, a former member of the CNMI House of Representatives, also stated: “I wholeheartedly support [Palacios] in requesting funding to emplace a permanent court of honor in commemorative remembrance of the Marianas Marine Scouts and the Navajo Code Talkers. …I, too, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with [Palacios’ request for] funding assistance for the permanent installation of a well-deserved court of honor.”

Herman B. Cabrera of H.B. Cabrera and Associates, a local architect and community developer, also urge support for Palacios’ funding request to Cantor, saying, “I stand ready, willing and able to contribute my talents and resources toward the design of Governor Palacios’ court of honor for the Navajo Code Talkers and the Marianas Marine Scouts.” (PR)