Danielle Burbank collected each and every book on Navajo Code Talkers that she came across in her nearly two decades of work as a librarian. She found paths to learn her own family history.
Her research process started at home in Crystal, New Mexico, where she wondered what her grandfather experienced in his time serving as a Navajo Code Talker.
“He didn’t share his stories freely with me,” Burbank said. “I know he shared a lot of stories with my dad and my uncles, but I don’t know if it was because he just didn’t think I needed to know about his experiences or to relive what he experienced during World War II.”
More than 400 Navajo Code Talkers remained under orders after the war by a U.S. military program that was highly classified until 1968. The first Code Talkers Day was celebrated in 1982.
Burbank wrote “DK Super Readers Level 4: Navajo Code Talkers” with fellow Diné researchers that offered guidance and review.
The publisher sought writers like Burbank for its series geared toward giving fourth- and fifth-grade readers insight into Navajo Code Talkers as part of history and social studies classes.
She debuted the book Tuesday night as part of the Navajo Nation Library’s celebration for Navajo Code Talkers Day that takes place Aug. 14 each year.
Former New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman introduced the “Honoring the Code Talkers Act” in 2000, and the following year, the 29 Navajo Code Talkers were awarded a gold medal by President George W. Bush.
“That’s what this book gets into, is sharing with kiddos that because it was a classified program they couldn’t share it until almost two decades later. Then we came to celebrate these older gentlemen who did all of this,” Burbank said.
Navajo Code Talkers took their place in U.S. military history. John Woo directed a big budget Hollywood movie in 2002. Code Talkers began regular appearances in parade routes and at schools across the Navajo Nation.
Burbank recalls a visit by Dr. Samuel Billison to her high school that opened her eyes to understanding more of the Code Talkers’ history. She said that led to research at the Library of Congress as part of its Veterans History Project.
Her book ties those experiences together and brings her family background to a better understanding that she hopes can connect with more readers, some who may be living with this history too.
“That’s what I really get into in my book is how our Diné upbringing our schools on the reservation and a lot of those social aspects, how that made them stronger, to be Code Talkers and then also what it was like when they returned home, and have to celebrate them in their older age.”
Burbank said she writes to educate children and sees her book as a tool that can be valuable for any classroom or student in the country.
“Sharing a story like this can be powerful for the kiddos that I envisioned when I was researching this, like my own kiddo or my friend’s kiddos who are interested in history, interested in Native culture, interested in military history as well,” she said. “So that made it really exciting when I got the book in my hand.”
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