Senate Resolution 152 - Introduced
PAG LIN
S.R. ________ H.R. ________
1 1 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. ___
1 2 BY BEALL
1 3 A Resolution to honor the Meskwaki tribe members who
1 4 served as Code Talkers in North Africa during World
1 5 War II and to request that Congress and the President
1 6 of the United States honor all Code Talkers who served
1 7 in the United States armed forces.
1 8 WHEREAS, the languages of several Native American
1 9 tribes were developed for use as code during both
1 10 World War I and World War II and members of at least
1 11 18 tribes participated in the transmission of vital
1 12 information regarding the location of enemy troops and
1 13 numbers of enemy guns, including the tribes
1 14 Assiniboine, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa/Oneida,
1 15 Choctaw, Comanche, Hopi, Kiowa, Lakota and Dakota
1 16 Sioux, Menominee, Muscogee/Creek and Seminole, Navajo,
1 17 Osage, Pawnee, Sac and Fox/Meskwaki, and Yankton
1 18 Sioux; and
1 19 WHEREAS, this code was never broken and the Native
1 20 American Code Talkers who transmitted the messages are
1 21 credited with saving the lives of countless numbers of
1 22 American soldiers; and
1 23 WHEREAS, these Code Talkers worked under terrible
1 24 conditions, taking extreme risks to provide the
1 25 necessary military information for our military forces
1 26 and sworn to secrecy in the event they were captured;
1 27 and
1 28 WHEREAS, eight members of the Meskwaki tribe from
1 29 Tama County, including Frank Sanache, his brother
1 30 Willard Sanache, Dewey Youngbear, Edward Benson, Judie
2 1 Wayne Wabaunasee, Mike Wayne Wabaunasee, Dewey
2 2 Roberts, and Melvin Twin, served as scouts and Code
2 3 Talkers for eight companies of their division in North
2 4 Africa during World War II; and
2 5 WHEREAS, the last of the Code Talkers from the
2 6 Meskwaki tribe, Frank Sanache, who endured terrible
2 7 hardships both while stationed in North Africa and
2 8 after being captured by the Germans and held prisoner
2 9 in a Nazi internment camp in Europe, died in August
2 10 2004; and
2 11 WHEREAS, Congress passed legislation in 2000
2 12 authorizing the issuance of Congressional Medals of
2 13 Honor to recognize the service of the Navajo Code
2 14 Talkers, which were presented by the President of the
2 15 United States in July of 2001, but members of other
2 16 tribes, such as Frank Sanache and the other Meskwaki
2 17 Code Talkers, did not receive the same recognition;
2 18 and
2 19 WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the valiant
2 20 efforts of all Native American Code Talkers be
2 21 recognized and honored; NOW THEREFORE,
2 22 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Iowa Senate
2 23 recognizes the bravery and dedicated service of the
2 24 Meskwaki Code Talkers and expresses gratitude for the
2 25 contribution these soldiers made to saving many
2 26 American lives; and
2 27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa Senate
2 28 requests and encourages Congress and the President of
2 29 the United States to recognize the contributions,
2 30 bravery, and dedicated service of all Code Talkers,
3 1 including the eight soldiers from the Meskwaki tribe,
3 2 in the same manner as the Navajo Code Talkers by
3 3 awarding them the appropriate medals of honor; and
3 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, upon adoption, copies
3 5 of this Resolution be sent to the President and
3 6 Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States
3 7 Senate, the Speaker, Majority Leader, and Minority
3 8 Leader of the United States House of Representatives,
3 9 to the members of the Iowa congressional delegation,
3 10 and to the President of the United States; and
3 11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, upon adoption, copies
3 12 of this Resolution be sent to the families of Frank
3 13 Sanache and the other Meskwaki tribe members who
3 14 served as Code Talkers in World War II.
3 15 LSB 6664SS 82
3 16 rj/rj/14