Library Lines: Celebrate our Coast Guard heroes in the August

August is a month for heroes — some we have right here in our community, and some can only be remembered.

First, August is the birthday month for the U.S. Coast Guard. First commissioned in 1790, the USCG is celebrating 232 years this month. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Cutter Mackinaw has been stationed in Cheboygan since 1944, first with the original CGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) until it was decommissioned in June 2006 and now by CGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30).

As described on its website (uscg.mil), the Cheboygan area is served by the Ninth Coast Guard District, which is responsible for “all Coast Guard operations throughout the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway and parts of the surrounding states including 6,700 miles of shoreline and 1,500 miles of the international border with Canada.” Our "Guardians of the Great Lakes" consists of 6,000 active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary men and women who “deliver multi-mission services in search and rescue, maritime safety and security, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, aids to navigation and icebreaking.”

To learn more about the Coast Guard, check out these books, which will be on display at the Cheboygan Area Public Library:

• “Guardians of the Eighth Sea: A History of the U.S. Coast Guard on the Great Lakes” by T. Michael O’Brien

• “Today’s Coast Guard Heroes” by Joyce L. Markovics

• “The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue” by Mike Tougias

• “USCGC Mackinaw: An Illustrated History of A Great Lakes Queen” by Mike Fornes

• “Mayday. Mayday. A Coast Guard Rescue” by Chris L. Demarest

• “The Adventures of Onyx” series by Tyler Benson

Regarding other heroes celebrated this month, Aug. 14 was declared as “Navajo Code Talkers Day” in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, in order to recognize the unparalleled work that was done by Code Talkers during WWII.

As stated by veteran.com, this holiday “honors the contributions of Native Americans / First Nations people who contributed to the United States war effort during World War Two, as well as recognizing the evolution of U.S. code related to Native American languages and the participation of First Nations tribe members in U.S. military efforts from many conflicts.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (intel.gov) shares how “the Code Talkers participated in every major Marine operation in the Pacific theater, giving the Marines a critical advantage throughout the war.” One such example of how important the Code Talkers were, it was reported that the six Navajo Code Talker Marines that were stationed on Iwo Jima successfully transmitted more than 800 messages without error. And Marine leadership noted after the battle that the Code Talkers “were critical to the victory at Iwo Jima.”

Creating a code by assigning a Navajo word to “key phrases and military tactics,” the Navajo Code Talkers utilized their unwritten Navajo language to translate and send messages quickly and accurately during the war. For example, they were able to “translate three lines of English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing code-breaking machines” (intel.com).

To learn more about the history of WWII and the Code Talkers, check out the following books and films: “Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII” by Chester Nez; “Navajo Weapon: The Navajo Code Talkers” by S. McClain; “Navajo Code Talkers in Their Own Words” film by Starbright Media Corporation; and “Navajo Code Talkers of World War II: A Journey of Remembrance” film by Gateway Films.

— Emily Clare is program director of the Cheboygan Area Public Library. 

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Library Lines: Celebrate our Coast Guard heroes in the August