Please join the SaddleBrooke World War II Roundtable on March 12 at 1 p.m. at DesertView Theater for a historic presentation that touches native roots in Arizona.
Terry Caldwell’s interest in code talkers came from coin collecting, as it gave clues on Navajo, Choctaw, and Comanche code talkers, the latter two serving in Europe during World War I. Tribal languages became “the code which was never broken,” but how were the men recruited? What was the irony of Indian boarding schools and stereotypes by Anglos and the U.S. military that influenced their combat duties?
Navajo were recruited from Arizona and New Mexico in 1942 by the Marines, with more than 400 code talkers trained for the Pacific Theater. In December 1940 the Army recruited and trained Comanches for the 4th Motorized Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga. All code talkers were “unsung heroes” who waited more than 20 years for formal recognition. Terry will display Congressionally-approved Native American nation and tribal code talker medals and coins at the presentation.
Originally from Kansas City, Mo., Terry became an Eagle Scout and completed a BS in nursing from Avila University. He served as a U.S. Army nurse from 1971 to 1996 in Alaska, Hawaii, and Germany and a psychiatric mental health nurse clinician and as a Community Health Nurse in Preventive Medicine Service. He obtained a Masters of Public Health from the University of South Carolina, qualified as an Instructor Trainer for the American Red Cross, and served as a Post Advisor for Medical Explorer Posts.
Terry retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, with a Legion of Merit, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and the Expert Field Medic Badge. As a civilian, he obtained an MS in the Nursing/Family Nurse Practitioner program from Belmont University. Work assignments included Arizona Department of Corrections and Southern Arizona VA Health Care System as a Psychiatric Primary Care Provider where he established a Telehealth program to monitor veterans with chronic diseases.
Join the World War II Roundtable for this intriguing presentation that brings Arizona history to life on Thursday, March 12, at 1 p.m. at DesertView Theater.