The Washington Redskins honored the famed Navajo Code Talkers during the team’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
Four representatives–Navajo Code Talkers Association President Peter MacDonald Sr., Vice President Roy Hawthorne and members George James Sr. and George Boyd Willie Sr.–were honored during halftime.
400 of the code talkers used their Native American language for the United States during World War II, to send messages that the Japanese code breakers couldn’t understand.
The Redskins official website called the men “heroes,” and said the team hosted the veterans for a private guided tour at the National Museum of the Marine Corps earlier in the day.
(Washington Redskins/All Photos)
Navajo Code Talkers honored by Redskins for #NFLSalute & Native American Heritage month. https://t.co/xW9abPqNPo
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) November 26, 2013
MacDonald said he didn’t talk about his role in the war until he saw a story about the code talkers in the 1950s.
Hawthorne said the tour of the museum was “overwhelming.”
It makes me so appreciative of the fact that I could have been used to defend America,” Hawthorne said.
“When I went into the Marine Corps as a 17-year-old boy, I felt invincible,” he added. “The Marine Corps didn’t diminish that at all. So even today I feel invincible because we have this great country that God has given us. I’m ready to do it again.”
Some of the code talkers also saw action on the front lines.
The Redskins have been facing increasing criticism over the team’s name, with some tribes pressuring the team’s management to change it. The Code Talkers, though, wore Redskins jackets and hats.
