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VIDEO: Congress Honors Native American Code Talkers

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla. 4) speaking during a ceremony Nov. 20, 2013 honoring Native American Code Talkers.
Speaker of the House John Boehner
/
YouTube

The Cherokee Nation and Comanche Nation were among more than 30 tribes who received a Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony Wednesday to honor Native American Code Talkers.

Congress passed an act in 2008 recognizing the work of the Code Talkers who used their native language to pass messages to confuse the enemy during World Wars I and II.

Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, one of only a few Native Americans in Congress, spoke during the ceremony.

"In the long history of American arms, no one has fought against, in alliance with, and for the United States like Native Americans," Cole says. "And that's true to this day. Native Americans still enlist at a higher level than any other race or ethnicity in this blessed land. And they do so proudly, and with a determination to defend it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utQ0HP0tcvA&feature=share&t=42m8s

(Editor's Note: Fast-forward to the 42:00 mark for the start of the ceremony)

Cole says ten tribes from Oklahoma received medals Wednesday, including the Choctaw, Comanche, and Kiowa Tribes, which are located in his Fourth Congressional District.

Cherokee Nation Veterans Representative Raymond Vann says the medal ceremony is one way to recognize the importance of Native Americans' service in the defense of the United States. Vann says many served despite federal government policies at the time being unfriendly.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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