FROM:
INTREPID SEA, AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
CONTACT:
Rubenstein Associates Public Relations
Nancy Haberman – 212-843-8021 /
nhaberman@rubenstein.com
REQUEST FOR COVERAGE
INTREPID’S ANNUAL MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY EVENT INCLUDES
WORLD WAR II NAVAJO CODE TALKERS
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NYPD Commissioner and Former Marine Ray Kelly to Participate in Celebration
As part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum’s observance of the 234th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, a group of 12 Navajo Code Talkers, who provided communications for Marine combat units during World War II, will deliver greetings in the American Indian language on Tuesday, November 10, from 11 a.m. to Noon at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, located at 12th Avenue and West 46th Street, Manhattan.
The Marine Corps recruited Navajo Indians to serve as Code Talkers in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. They provided communications between combat units, speaking in a code based on the Navajo language which the Japanese could not break. The Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy and the program remained a military secret until 1968. They received Congressional Medals of Honor in 2001.
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, himself a Marine Corps veteran, and Bill White, President of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, will also speak at the birthday event.
HBO has arranged for the Code Talkers to participate in New York City’s 90th Anniversary Veterans Day Parade November 11, riding on a special float designed for HBO’s upcoming miniseries “The Pacific.”
DATE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
TIME: 11 A.M. - NOON
PLACE: INTREPID SEA, AIR & SPACE MUSEUM WEST 46TH STREET & 12TH AVENUE
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