Tlingit Code Talkers praised for secret WWII work

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Army veteran Richard Bean Sr. died without anyone knowing that he and four other long-deceased Alaska Natives had used their Tlingit language to outsmart the Japanese during World War II.

Now, they are finally being hailed in their home state for their lifesaving efforts as servicemen.

Earlier this month, legislators passed a formal citation honoring the Tlingit Code Talkers. State flags were flown at half-staff and later presented to the men’s families.

Bean and the others had been forbidden to speak Tlingit as schoolchildren in their southeast Alaska villages. Later, they used it to provide the military with unbreakable codes, as did their more well-known peers, Navajo Code Talkers.

The language of the Alaska Natives had been suppressed by missionaries and teachers trying to “civilize” them, said Rosita Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute. The Juneau nonprofit works to preserve and enhance the cultures of southeast Alaska’s Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes.

Associated Press