Veteran’s Code

Props to AP for highlighting this photo of Native-American WW II Marines in NY for Veterans Day. Ironies abound. With Navajo Code Talker Joe Vandever aligned with the ships tower, the photo is really an appeal to consider the inclusivity of the society we’re fighting to defend.

Check out the caption (with apologies for whoever stuck in the “drum up” phrase).

(photo: Seth Wenig/AP. caption:Code Talkers Samuel Holiday, right, Joe Vandever, center, and Frank Chee Willetto look over the USS Intrepid after a birthday celebration for the Marine Corp in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. The young Navajo Marines, using secret Navajo language-encrypted military terms, helped the U.S. prevail at Iwo Jima and other World War II Pacific battles. The Navajo Code Talkers are in New York to march in the Veterans Day Parade and drum up support for a museum that will preserve their story.)