The Secret is Out: 1968 and Beyond
- The Navajo code remains a secret for twenty-three years after the end of the war. In 1968, the military declassifies it.
- Finally, Chester can tell his family about being a code talker. His dad, who is still alive, is so happy and proud when he finds out what his son was really up to in the Pacific.
- Chester becomes something of a celebrity. He speaks at Harvard about his World War II experiences, and books about the code talkers begin to appear.
- In 1971, President Richard Nixon honors the code talks with a certificate thanking them for their honorable service. About time, we'd say.
- But just as the code is declassified, and other people begin learning about Chester's heroism during the war, his nightmares begin to recur.
- Ethel tells him that he needs another "Enemy Way" ceremony to get rid of the nightmares. They decide to head to Chinle, Arizona, where she has a lot of relatives, to hold another protective ceremony.
- At Chinle, Chester's older brother, Charlie Gray, oversees the ceremony. Things don't go so well, though.
- First, one of the drums used in the ceremony breaks, then a girl taking part in the traditional Squaw Dance faints.
- Young kids drink alcohol during the ceremony, but alcohol is a big no-no during Navajo ceremonies.
- To top it all off, a rattlesnake tries to enter the hogan where Chester and family are staying. All bad signs, we'd say.
- These things worry Chester. He's afraid that someone who doesn't like him has caused bad things to happen to him and his family.
- After the Enemy Way ceremony, Chester's relatives also decide to put on a "Holy Way" ceremony to make sure that things are really set right. This ceremony lasts for another three days, and afterwards he feels better.
- But all is not well in the Nez household: Chester and Ethel's marriage goes through rough times. Ethel begins working outside of the home, and she and Chester draw apart. Chester spends more time with the kids, rather than with Ethel.
- Chester tells us that he loves spending time with his kids. One day, he nails a basketball backboard to the back of the house to surprise the kids when they come back from school.
- His kids are super-happy with the surprise, and they invite their friends over to play basketball.
- Ethel and Chester's relationship doesn't improve, and finally, they decide to get a divorce. Chester gets custody of all four boys, since Ethel doesn't even bother to show up to the divorce hearing.
1974 to 1990s
- Chester is woken up by a knock on the door in the middle of the night. There's a police officer at the door. He tells him that his oldest son, Stanley, twenty-one years old, has been killed in a car accident.
- Chester is devastated. He finds out that Stanley had been killed on his way back from after party where there had been lots of drinking.
- Stanley had left the party on foot, but then hitched a ride with a drunk driver. The car smashed into a cement culvert.
- Just days before his death, Stanley had talked to his dad about a drawing that he'd started, and told Chester that he'd have to finish it for him. Now, Chester thinks this was an omen.
- How do we get on after we've lost another child? This is the third child that Chester loses. He's a warrior, though, so he tries to get on with his life as best he can.
- Chester's surviving three sons, Michael, Ray and Tyah, all graduate from school and move out of the house.
- In the mid-1970s, Chester retires from the VA Hospital and moves back to Chichiltah, to his grandmother's land (we assume his grandma's dead by now—Chester doesn't tell us).
- Dora, his sister, still lives on the land. Chester helps her take care of the house, the livestock, and the family's land.
- In 1982, President Ronald Reagan gives the code talkers a certificate of recognition and declares August 14 National Code Talkers Day. (Now we know to mark that in our calendars!)
- Ethel, Chester's ex-wife, dies in the late 1980s. Nez moves back to Albuquerque to live with his son Mike, Mike's wife, and their three children.
- On September 17, 1992, an exhibit honoring the code talkers is dedicated at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
2000 to 2001
- More and more people are beginning to understand what an important role the code talkers played in beating the Japanese in World War II.
- In April 2000, Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico proposes the "Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers Act." It's signed into law in December by President Bill Clinton.
- The act calls for the recognition of the code talkers, and authorizes the awarding of Congressional Gold Medals to the twenty-nine original code talkers and silver medals to the code talkers that came after them.
- The "original twenty-nine" and their families head to Washington, D.C. Four of the five surviving original code talkers make the trip, including our hero Chester.
- In the Capital Rotunda in Washington, Chester, the other code talkers, and their families wait for the president to make an appearance. (We're in 2001 by now—George W. Bush is in the White House).
- President Bush arrives and gives a speech honoring the code talkers. The president awards each of the code talkers the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow.
- At a reception hosted by MGM Studios, MGM announces that they will release a movie, Windtalkers, about the World War II code talkers.
- While most of the code talkers are honored at this ceremony, Chester tells us that there are between 70 and 100 code talkers who were probably never documented, and therefore would never be recognized for their service.
- Isn't that sad? At least Chester's nice enough to mention them in this book.
- After the gold medal presentation, everyone—newspapers, television, radio—wants to interview Chester. He travels all over the country talking about his code-talking experience.
- In 2004, the Boston Red Sox ask Chester to bless them and toss out the game ball during that year's World Series.
- For the first time in eighty-six years, the Red Sox win the World Series. Way to go Chester! We know it's all 'cause of you.