Without WWII Indigenous code talkers, 'we would be speaking German'

Code talkers and theirmissions were so vital during theSecond World War, that some believe without them, there was no way of winning of the war.

"Let's put it this way, we would be speaking German or some other language if it weren't for the Native code talkers," saidMike Cook.

Cookis from the St.Regis Mohawk Tribeand is the commander of the American LegioninAkwesasne, a Kanien'keh:ka (Mohawk) community that straddlesthe Ontario, Quebec and New York state borders.

Despite their importance, itwas not until 2008,when the Code Talkers Recognition Actin the U.S. was passed, that their contributions to the war effort were officially acknowledged.

Cook,who has been retiredfrom the Army reserve for 22 years, has worked with Veterans Affairs for years hosting clinics about benefits and health care, off and on-reserve and on both sides oftheborder.

Code talkers were often used as scouts even though many were just teenagers, he said.

Usually in pairs, the scouts served on the forward lines. They would go out into the field being as inconspicuous as possible to get information.

"You tell them just how many people, what kind of insignia is on the shirt. Let them know what kind of outfit they're up against how large a group, what kind of weapons they're using," Cook said.

Mohawk code talkers would transmit coded Kanien'kha(Mohawk language) messages withthese details to another Mohawk code talker via radio, who would then share that informationwith his division. The soldiers created their own code the Kanien'kha word for eagle (:kweks) could represent the word for gun (khonre),for example.

He said this intelligence would be used to determine the rank and experience of the enemy to help strategize.

Code talkersmonument

Cook was on the committee to establish a monument dedicated to all of Akwesasne'scode talkersin 2018.

"We really have nothing for the veterans like this with all the names," he said, adding that the veterans cemetery is the onlyexception.

His efforts to research and honour his community's Mohawk code talkers was not an easy task. Many of the men who served were sworn to secrecy by the American government, he said, and they never spoke about their clandestine missions overseas due to fears of repercussions.

WATCH | Code talkers' legacy:

Akwesasne's military community reflects on war and code talker legacy

16 hours ago

Duration 4:49

CBC Indigenous visits Akwesasne to speak with the military community and the daughter of Levi Oakes the last Second World War Mohawk code talker, who died in 2019.

"The code talkers we never knew we had You're told you're under oath. You don't tell nobody," Cook said.

It wasn't until the Veterans' Oral History Project Actwas passed in the U.S. in 2000, that veterans from his community seemed to feel secure enough to share the details of their missions, he said.

The last Mohawk code talker, Louis Levi Oakes, was 94 whendied in 2019. He was one of 17 known code talkers from Akwesasne Mohawk Territory who served in the Second World War.

Oakesis the only Mohawk code talker to be recognized while he was alive.His service in the war was also well-documented.

"Levi, you know, he was just a fisherman, ahunter and he was up there in age. He never said nothing to anybody," Cook said.

"We honoured [Oakes] at a conference in Washington, and we took him to the airport, which was three hours from here and that guy talked like he was 20 years old. He told mewhere he enlisted, where he went."

Oakes' daughter, Dora, accompanied himto many ceremonies honouring his accomplishments in the Second World War.

She said her father never spoke about his military career.

The first time her father received recognition for his service was in 2016, when he was awarded a silver star "for gallantry in action against the enemy, the U.S. Armed Forces' third-highest award.

"They should have did it 20 years earlier when a lot of these veterans couldwalk, get around and get honoured," Dora said.

Charles and Alex WilsonLazore, Mohawk code talkers

Gerald Lazoreserved in the 82nd Airborne Division, Army at Fort Bragg, N.C. He was a paratrooper and artillery repairman.

"With the outfit I was in, I didn't know if I was going to go overseas or anywhere. You're always on alert, so that was the life when you were a paratrooper," he said.

Despite having a difficult time readjusting to civilian life after his two years of service, he said he was one of the lucky ones.

"I never went overseas. I got lucky. I didn't go to Vietnam like my brother did."

Lazore's older brotherKennethdid two tours of duty inVietnamin 1967-68.

He said his memories of those tours are his alone and he's buried them. When he reflects on it, Kenneth says itforced him to grow old before his time like many of the men he served with.

During the war, people saw "too much," he said.

"[In] '68I brought a cousin home. Shittiest friggin' duty that I ever hadYou go to a funeral, you stand by the casket, parents look at you," Kenneth said, his voice cracking. "Why him?"

"Indian life is cheap," hesaid.

Gerald said many of the men from Akwesasne enlisted with the U.S. Army because many who did so on theCanadian sidewere enfranchised and lost their Indian statusupon returning home from war.

Kenneth and Gerald's uncle, Charles Lazore and father, Alex Wilson Lazore, were both Mohawk code talkers. Their father served in France in the Second World War. He died in his mid-70s before ever being recognized for his service. His sons only learned he was a war hero after he died.

He enlisted, they said, because "money was tight back then."

When he returned home, he went to work as a farmer and ironworker. Little else is known about his time in the military.

Gerald echoed Dora's sentiments about the lack of recognition his father received for his service as a war hero.

"They should have did this when all of them were still here, right?"

The brothers still have their father's 42nd Division handbook, which has been carefully preserved.

The handbook is the only known copy in their community, containing maps, Alex Wilson's 42nd Division patch, the most recent updates regarding enemy stations in the war and notes on Allied military stations.

Much of the information isdifficult to decipher by those who didn't use the handbook themselves,Cook saidwhile leafing through its contents and unfolding the maps.

After they die, the brothers said they plan to donate the book to the legionforits collection of memorabilia"so the whole communitycouldcome see what the men did here during World War Two as code talkers."

"They created their own words," said Kenneth.

"When they passed away, they took them," Gerald added.