NAVAJO CODE TALKER NOW AT REST

by Lavinia Kumar

The New York Times, October 20, 2024

armament ……animal ………...Navajo animal name

bomber……….buzzard ……….jay-sho

fighter plane…hummingbird …da-he-tih-hi

battleship ……whale …………lo-tso

destroyer……..shark…………..ca-lo.

 

Navajo John Kinsel lived 107 years,

decades since he was Code Talker

the Navajo Code unbreakable, critical 

to Iwo Jima Marine victory.

 

He returned, his wound healing—

to his grandfather who’d happy-cried,

to a welcome ceremony—

returned to the Navajo Nation—

received Purple Heart after 43 years,

Congressional Medal 12 years later.

 

his memory to inspire generations

his spirit resting in peace.

Lavinia Kumar’s latest book is a reprinting of her short book Beauty. Salon. Art. 

HERO

by Gil Hoy




The sun rises, just as splendidly
and majestically as she did
the day before. And the day
before that. He'll be fine,
he thinks, for telling the truth.
The Lieutenant Colonel, with a
Purple Heart, is honest and steadfast.
He loves his Country. She's oblivious
to the impending tempest--ignorant
and innocent. He's not worried, unaware
of his coming marching orders.
For this is America--not the Soviet Union.

Gil Hoy is a Boston poet and progressive political activist. He served four terms as a Brookline, Massachusetts Selectman.

AN AFFAIR OF THE HARD

by Wayne Scheer

Sure, General P
should have kept
it in his pants;
sure, Ms B,
wife, mom
biographer,
should have
maintained
journalistic distance,
but these things
happen.
What is
unbelievable,
to me,
is how a man,
whose job it is
to snoop
and oversee
snooping,
would communicate
to his lover
via email.

They
could have
at least
used code.

Now
a valiant general
is reduced
to Newt Gingrich-like
fodder for comics.

No more sex
with his biographer,
one points out,
now he'll only
have sex
with his
autobiographer.

Even people
like me,
who shouldn't be
allowed to breathe
the same air
as General P,
wonders aloud
if he slept
nude with Ms B
or kept
his purple heart on.

The mighty fall
just as the small,
only with
a louder
thud.

I find this
reassuring.

Still,
emails General P?
Really?


Wayne Scheer has locked himself in a room with his computer and turtle since his retirement. (Wayne's, not the turtle's.) To keep from going back to work, he's published hundreds of short stories, essays and poems, including Revealing Moments, a collection of flash stories. He's been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net. Wayne lives in Atlanta with his wife and can be contacted at wvscheer(at)aol.com.