'Living history'

An estimated crowd of more than 1,000 people descended into Tucumcari High School's gymnasium to listen to a speech Wednesday by Thomas H. Begay, one of the last three surviving Navajo Code Talkers from World War II.

Busloads of schoolchildren arrived from as far away as Bushland, Texas, and Des Moines to witness what an attending congresswoman described as "living history." In a rare occurrence, school officials unfolded all the gym's bleachers to accommodate the throng.

THS principal Nicole Bright-Lesly said it was the biggest crowd in the Snake Pit since a sold-out basketball playoff game in 2016. The gymnasium's capacity is 1,800.

Begay's speech, sponsored and organized by Mesalands Community College, was relocated twice because crowd estimates kept rising before the event.

Mesalands President Gregg Busch, who acted as master of ceremonies, described it as a "once in a lifetime" event.

Eugene Ross, a professor of silversmithing at the college and a Navajo Nation member, introduced Begay in English and the Navajo language.

The Cannon Air Force Base Honor Guard presented the colors as the national anthem was played and a pledge of allegiance was recited to the United States and New Mexico flags. Begay, who is in his mid-90s, stood with assistance from his son Ron to salute or place his hand over his heart.

The crowd gave long ovations to Begay, including one that lasted perhaps 20 seconds or more.

The gym became quiet as Begay, speaking slowly, told his experiences of serving in the Marines as a Navajo Code Talker during World War II and, later, in the Army during the Korean War.

Begay, born near Two Wells, New Mexico, said he enlisted in the Marines in 1943 in Gallup with the goal of being an aerial gunner. He said he was only 17 at the time, and his mother gave permission for him to enlist.

At Camp Pendleton, he was placed in a room with other Navajos, where an officer explained they were going to be trained as Code Talkers. The Japanese kept breaking all the U.S. code words during early days of the war. The U.S. military had deduced the Japanese wouldn't be able to break code words in the Navajo language because it was unwritten at the time.

"I had no choice. I told them I didn't want to be a code talker," Begay recalled, saying an officer responded: "'If you refuse, you're going to go to jail.'"

He said the Code Talkers used the first letter of words for animals in Navajo to help develop an alphabet for the code. They memorized more than 500 words and were forbidden from keeping them in a booklet for fear of its capture by the enemy. They also learned how to use military radios and Morse code.

Begay was involved in key battles of the Pacific theater, including 38 days of savage fighting at Iwo Jima.

"I was scared as heck, boy," he said of Iwo Jima, which saw two Code Talkers killed there before he arrived. "I tell you, you don't know how it feels to face a bullet, mortar, everything. But I made it through."

Begay enlisted in the Army in 1946 after he couldn't find work back home and became a paratrooper. He survived several key battles in Korea, including the Chosin Reservoir when temperatures dropped to minus-35 degrees.

One of Begay's biggest ovations came when he concluded his speech by singing in Navajo "The Marines' Hymn," the oldest official song of the U.S. armed forces.

"I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart," Begay said after the applause died down.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez presented Begay with an official Congressional Record recognizing his service to the country, as well as an American flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in his honor.

"I'm so inspired," the congresswoman said. "I'm in the presence of living history."

Busch presented the college's President's Medal of Excellence to the Begays, state Rep. Jack Chatfield, the Rosses and Leger Fernandez. Mesalands officials also presided over a giveaway of Navajo jewelry specially made for Begay's visit.

Others who attended the event were Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield, former state senator Clinton Harden and an aide with U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan.

About 20 officers from New Mexico State Police, along with a smattering of local law-enforcement, were on hand for security. Officers forbid attendees from wearing jackets into the venue.