Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Native American pride

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

TODAY WE CELEBRATE FLAG DAY and the movie "Windtalkers" is opening at local theaters. What a great combination for this generation to learn about the past and the colors of our nation.

Seven years ago, when an amendment to protect our flag was being considered for the Constitution, a quiet man stepped forward. I called him for some of his thoughts and included them in this column May 10, 1995. Thomas Begay responded to me and several other interested citizens and media outlets. He served as a U.S. Marine Navajo Code Talker in the Pacific during WWII. He was with the outfit that took Mt. Surabachi on Iwo Jima. Five years later he served with Marines fighting in Korea.

Two months before responding to questions about the protection of our flag, he had visited Mt. Surabachi. I would suggest that Begay's words should be read again before you see "Windtalkers."

"The American flag still flies atop Mt. Surabachi. It is a silent yet powerful tribute to my fallen comrades who gave their lives so many years ago. One of my fellow Marines, also a Native American, was Ira Hayes, who was immortalized in the famous picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. We served in the Marines during the Pacific campaign as code talkers -- communication experts using our native Navajo language to relay military information in a code we developed and one that was never broken by the Japanese throughout the war.

"Now in 1995, we are once again ready to defend our flag. The code talkers are joining in the national effort to support a constitutional amendment that would permit the states to once again punish those who physically desecrate the American Flag. In the name of my fallen friends and all who were laid to rest under this flag, we must pass this amendment. The flag gives life, gives meaning to our country and it deserves protection. Too many good men and women, over too many years, have returned to this country in flag-draped coffins, having given their all in its defense, to be ignored.

"Many have asked why Native Americans who, over the years, had been treated so badly by the 'white man' would voluntarily fight 'the white man's war.' The Navajo Tribal Council on June 4, 1940, passed a unanimous resolution saying that they would defend the American flag and country against any aggression. This was six months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Navajo have always defended their land -- the land is the source of our life and had to be defended.

"At the reservation school at Ft. Defiance, near the Navajo Nation headquarters in Arizona, where I went to grade school, we started each day with the Pledge of Allegiance. To this day, that practice continues. Respect for the flag and our country is taught at a very early age on the reservation. The Navajo still feel the same way today as we did more than 50 years ago -- we will defend our land, America, and its living symbol, the flag.

"Our strength as a nation derives from our diversity. Color and creed made little difference when we waded ashore on Iwo Jima 50 years ago. All that mattered was that we were under enemy fire, wearing the uniform of our country, fighting for our lives. When members of the 5th Marine Division raised that flag on Mt. Surabachi, I felt 10 feet tall. That flag represented all of us, all that we had. Fifty years ago, I left many friends, several of them Native Americans, on that little island. Now 50 years later, their sacrifice must not be forgotten.

"Standing on Mt. Surabachi this past March with my wife was a golden moment. Few people are given the opportunity to revisit past lives. I was barely 18 when I served on Iwo Jima, old enough, however, to die for my country. Now, in the twilight of a Pacific evening, and a life lived full, the flag still stands for all that I believe in now. As a Native American, as a veteran, as the father of four children who are now on active duty in our nation's armed forces, I can say that I proudly served my country and its flag. ..."