The campaign was begun by Vietnam Veteran and Navajo Elder, Niles Aserat. Now a resident of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Niles grew up on the Navajo reservation in Sanders, Arizona.

Aserat believes that all code talker tribes should be included in a nationally recognized day because of the crucial impact they had on the outcome of the wars they served in. Nativecodetalkers.org, the website created as a resource for the petition states:

—“The Cherokee and Choctaw used their languages to help bring a successful end to World War I in 1918. These men served voluntarily for what they considered their country as Congress did not even grant U.S. citizenship to Native Americans until 1924.

—It is well-regarded that code talkers from the Navajo, Lakota, Comanche, Seminole, and other tribal nations changed the course of World War II, saving millions of lives.


These men served the United States with valor, especially considering the U.S. government’s subpar treatment of American Indians. The code talkers fought for a country that made many legal efforts to terminate their existence and culture. Yet still, American Indians constitute the highest per-capita ethnic group to serve in the Armed Forces, a tradition that stems from the code talkers’ legacy.”
Navajo Code Talkers Day