Today my mom flies out to South Dakota where she is working on getting my grandfathers remains moved to Leeds military cemetery. This weekend I had a bit of time to talk to her about my grandfather who died well before I was born.

My grandpa and his brother were code talkers who served in several battles in the pacific theater during World War 2. For those unfamiliar with the program it involved native speakers from 18 different tribes (the Navajo being the most famous tribe) who would memorize a complicated code and speak it in their native tongues to each other. It is known as being the only code that the Japanese never broke. Here is a link on the basics of code talking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker

My grandpa spoke Lakota Sioux and served in the navy. Oftentimes he was stationed in the front lines to communicate attack patterns, troop formation and other intel to his brother who was back on a battle ship. This intel was then passed on allowing for strikes from the battleship or airstrikes from p51 mustangs and other aircraft.

The toll of his and others who served was severe as he suffered from what would be diagnosed today as PTSD. This lead him to alcoholism and bouts of depression throughout his life.

In 1963, several years after my grandpa returned from the war his family was approached by the missionaries. He allowed my mom and 3 siblings to be baptized but never joined himself. He eventually divorced my grandma and moved on where he struggled with his personal demons for years. In 1978 just days before his 56th birthday he was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Arizona. He was buried in Wagner, SD where he was born.

I never knew my grandpa and my mom never told me much about him until this weekend when I started asking more questions about his life. Somethinf worth sharing this Memorial Day weekend.

For more info on Sioux code talkers here is a good link. www.voanews.com/amp/402780.html