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Under the Eagle
SAMUEL HOLIDAY, NAVAJO CODE TALKER
Samuel Holiday
and
Robert S. McPherson
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS
NORMAN
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Norman, Oklahoma 73069
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This book is supported by a generous grant from Jewish Federation of
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Copyright © 2013 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
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ISBN 978-0-8061-4389-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
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To Navajo warriors past, present, and future
who have fought for American freedom
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Decoding the Past:
Origin and Context of Under the Eagle
Chapter One. Establishing Beliefs:
Birth and Early Years
Chapter Two. Diné Language and Control:
Boarding School and Enlistment
Chapter Three. Training and Protection:
Preparation for War
Chapter Four. Traditional and Contemporary Combat:
First Encounter: Kwajalein
Chapter Five. The Hard Edge of Combat:
Saipan and Tinian: Protection Made Tangible
Chapter Six. The Final Crucible:
Iwo Jima: The Code Talkers’ Triumph
Chapter Seven. After the War:
A Different Kind of Battle
Chapter Eight. Recognition and Reconciliation:
Samuel and the Code Talkers Association
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Samuel Holiday displaying World War II medallion
Philip Johnston
Code Talkers using TBX radio
Eagle Rock and Eagle Mesa
Betsy Yellow, mother of Samuel Holiday
Goulding’s Trading Post
Interior of Warren Trading Post
Kayenta Hospital
Navajo students at Tuba City Boarding School
Tom Holiday with sand painting
Philip Johnston recruiting on Navajo Reservation
Code talkers marching at Camp Pendleton
Samuel Holiday’s code talker school graduation picture
Naval gunfire
Samuel Holiday with traditional song group
Invasion beach on Saipan
Japanese prisoners of war on Saipan
Three code talkers, Saipan
Flag raising, Mount Suribachi
Enemy position, Iwo Jima
Blasted Japanese concrete bunker, Iwo Jima
Code talker with SCR-300 radio
Samuel Holiday in Monument Valley, 1946
Samuel and Lupita Holiday
Kayenta Trading Post, 1950s
Enemy Way ceremonial encampment, Monument Valley
Fourth Marine Division celebration, Chicago, 1968
Samuel and Lupita Holiday in Hawaii, 1975
Samuel Holiday receiving recognition, Window Rock, 1971
Samuel Holiday with Japanese girl, 2008
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One of the most enjoyable parts of writing a book is to thank people who
have helped along the way. This work is no exception. I express
appreciation to Samuel Holiday and Helena Begaii, his daughter, for
inviting me to participate in this project. There are relatively few Navajo
code talkers remaining who are able and willing to share a part of their life
that was difficult and frightening. Samuel is one of those who has a clear
memory of events and is willing to talk about them. His son, Herman
Holiday, recorded part of this story in the early 1990s and willingly shared
this information with me, adding some wonderful detail that did not surface
in my interviews. That is not to suggest that Priscilla Parrish from
Monument Valley and Lucille Hunt from Blanding did not do an excellent
job in subsequent interviews, which Lucille transcribed. Both were highly
involved and skilled in presenting the nuanced meaning of the Navajo
language in English.
Individuals within agencies played a huge role in helping this work come
to fruition. Ron Maldonado of the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation
Department was instrumental in assisting during the initial stages of the
project. He understood that working with a World War II veteran is
something that cannot be postponed and so did everything he could to
expedite the necessary paperwork for an ethnographic permit. Kent Powell
of the Utah State Historical Society and Megan Van Frank with the Utah
Humanities Council were just as helpful in providing a grant for translating
interviews from Navajo into English. Their timely assistance made it
possible for Samuel to share his story in Navajo, the language he is most
comfortable with and in which he can be the most accurate. Photographs
were another important aspect. Roy Webb, Lorraine Crouse, and Krissy
Giacoletto in Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library of the
University of Utah, and Doug Misener of the Utah State Historical Society
Library were very helpful in providing photographs. A special thanks goes
to Nancy K. Whitfield at the U.S. Marine Corps University for her dogged
determination to provide photographs of combat in the Pacific and Navajo
code talkers. She persisted when others would have hung up the phone. At
the University of Oklahoma Press, Associate Director Charles E. Rankin
and Acquisitions Editor Alessandra Jacobi Tamulevich made the acceptance
and production aspects a rewarding experience.
Finally, thanks to family members—especially my wife, Betsy—for their
unflagging support of this and other projects. On a wider front, I express
appreciation to all Navajo veterans who served when their country called,
as have all veterans who understand the individual sacrifice necessary to
maintain freedom.
Robert S. McPherson
Utah State University, Blanding Campus
INTRODUCTION
DECODING THE PAST
Origin and Context of Under the Eagle
Samuel Holiday’s living room, in many respects, looked like any one of the
dozens of Navajo living rooms I have been in both on and off the
reservation. The ubiquitous wood burning stove (dormant now), a few
pieces of cedar (juniper) stacked neatly beside it, a small galvanized metal
pail with lumps of coal, and a four-bladed ceiling fan kept the temperature
comfortable. Two well-used couches and an easy chair clustered around a
cluttered recreation center with a television screen in the middle. Above the
East-facing door hung a traditional bow and arrow with a woven sash
announcing “God Bless Our Home.” The bow and arrow hanging over the
door is in keeping with the Navajo belief that the weapon protects against
the entrance of evil and is within reach as one goes forth into the outside
world of danger. To the Navajo, the East is a place of protection because no
evil came from that direction, only Holy People. Thus, sand paintings have
an opening to the East, whereas the other sides may be protected by pictures
of rainbows, feathers, yé’iis (gods), and other objects that keep evil at bay.1
There was also proof that Samuel had participated in defending against
evil. A glass case held a folded American flag, stars out, with five medals—
including a Purple Heart—pinned to it. A marine dress sword rested on a
rack not far from a Japanese samurai sword, while on a shelf were the
carved letters “USMC.” A small bronze statuette of a Navajo code talker
rested nearby. On the wall hung a painting of Samuel dressed in the official
code talker uniform, first designed in 1973. There is nothing subtle about
the uniform’s bright colors, perhaps an ironic statement to compensate for
the twenty-three years the activities of these Navajo servicemen remained
closed to public knowledge.
I have been in few Navajo homes that have not had at least one wall
dedicated to family pictures. Usually there are school and graduation photos
of children and grandchildren, a few young men and women dressed in
military uniform with Old Glory in the background, and perhaps some
light-faded images of parents and grandparents from years gone by. Throw
in a painting or two and a poster and one can tell what is important to that
family. Samuel’s home was much the same, with one exception—the
number of pictures. From the living room to the kitchen and into the
entryway there were snapshots, formal portraits, certificates of appreciation,
