OT; WWII Code Talker Dies

who me? · 2004-08-24T15:21:25+00:00

World War II 'code talker' diesTuesday, August 24, 2004 Posted: 7:34 AM EDT (1134 GMT) TAMA, Iowa (AP) -- Frank Sanache, one of the last of the "codetalkers" from the Meskwaki Indian tribe, died Saturday. He was 86.Sanache was among the "elite eight," a group of Meskwakis trained touse their language as a secret code during World War II.The Meskwaki, based in Tama County, were among 18 tribes thatcontributed code talkers during the war. But their achievements wentlargely unnoticed because the code was classified until 1968.Twenty-nine original Navajo code talkers were presented with theCongressional Gold Medal by President Bush in 2001.The Meskwakis never received that recognition, although Sens. CharlesGrassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, both pushed for it. Harkinawarded Sanache, the last surviving member, medals in 2002.Twenty-seven Meskwakis enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in 1941 andwere activated in the Army's 34th Division.This spring, the Iowa Legislature passed a resolution urging Congressto recognize the Meskwaki code talkers for their heroism.Sanache had little opportunity to use his language skills after beingshipped to North Africa because of the limited numbers of theMeskwakis and the short range of walkie-talkies. Sanache was capturedjust five months after he arrived in North Africa and spent 28 monthsas a prisoner of war.In an earlier interview, Sanache recalled that walkie-talkie traininglasted two months, followed by a year of jungle training in Louisiana.After his return to Iowa, Sanache worked for 38 years at a paper mill.

Aug 24, 2004 26 Replies

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uff 21 years ago

he is smart. nicolas cage is a hack.

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Doug Wagner 21 years ago

You gotta love lines like:

The pyramid... it's opening! Which one? The one with the ever-widening hole in it.

A little more subtle than Cheech and Chong.

Doug Wagner

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Mark Schynert 21 years ago

In yet a 3rd reality.

Mark Schynert

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uff 21 years ago

this reality crap is wearing me out!

-kieth laumer

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Mad-Modeller 21 years ago

Shirley we aren't going into that?

Bill Banaszak, MFE

;)

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Keeper 21 years ago

They had him cast to play Superman at one point! If he wasn't related to the director he'd be nowhere. Cheers,

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

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uff 21 years ago

if it was for connery, the rock would be total s*it.

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