Windtalkers

by Woo, John

• ISBN13: 9781557045140
• ISBN10: 1557045143
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Newmarket Pr

Summary

In the first movie made on the subject, director John Woo reveals the invaluable actions of the Navajo code talkers during the war in the Pacific, heroes whose bravery earned them the Congressional Gold and Silver Medals. The code talkers transmitted radio messages using a secret, efficient, unbreakable code based on their native language. The film's gripping climax takes place during the Battle of Saipan when the Marines, fighting off the Japanese, must risk their lives to safeguard the code. Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater play the Marine bodyguards ordered to protect the code talkers, two Navajo soldiers portrayed by Native American actors Adam Beach and Roger Willie. With an introduction by Senator Jeff Bingaman who led the way for the Congressional Medals to be awarded to the Navajo code talkers, this full-color companion book is filled with personal reflections from director John Woo, the screenwriters, producers, and actors of Windtalkers, and is accompanied by nearly 100 dramatic color photographs from the MGM studio files as well as historic photographs from the U.S. Marines and the National Archives and Records Administration -- plus samples and translations of the Navajo code. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 11
Introduction	p. 18
"A Story that Needs to Be Told"	p. 23
The Code Talkers	p. 29
Warrior Legends	p. 37
The Battle of Saipan	p. 40
The Navajo Code Talker Dictionary (Excerpts)	p. 46
Navajo Nation	p. 51
Cast	p. 58
On Location: Hawaii as the South Pacific	p. 64
The Story of the Film	p. 72
Ultimate Tributes: The Congressional Medal Ceremonies	p. 112
The Navajo Code Talker Dictionary (Complete)	p. 116
Credits	p. 124
Acknowledgments	p. 128
Suggested Reading	p. 128
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