Veteran’s Corner
STEPHEN PAUL WALLACE BILAGÁANA (White Man) − Code Talker
The secret code that helped win the war by Navajo Code Talkers during World War II was not declassified until the year 1968; 23 years after the war ended. The men who were designated as Code Talkers came home after the war with a commitment to not discuss what they had done during World War II. This meant there was no hero’s welcome when the Code Talkers returned home. The world is now well aware of how the Navajo Language was used in coded transcript to deceive the Japanese. The Navajo language was not in written form at the time of the war and was unknown to the rest of the world. But the world is likely not aware that there was one Bilagáana (white man) who served in the capacity of Code Talker: Stephen Paul Wallace.
Wallace was born in 1916 in Oklahoma but the family promptly moved to the Chandler, Arizona area when his father acquired a job there. In 1927, his father, Edmond Lynch Wallace, took a job in the Newcomb, New Mexico area as an Indian Service Agent specializing in farming and livestock proficiency. Stephen Wallace attended the Indian Service Day School, being the only non-Navajo at the school. Most Navajos did not speak English on the reservation, and Wallace found it necessary to learn the Navajo language if he wanted to study, play, and communicate with the other children. When a more in-depth education was needed, he later attended and graduated in 1934 from Farmington, New Mexico High School. The Prewitt, New Mexico Trading Post, located off now Historic Route 66 was his calling until 1942.
Pages 1, 2, 3 of the Navajo Alphabet which was used by the Code Talkers. Wallace brought the entire Code Book home with him when he returned from fighting WWII
26 August 2016
By Sandra McKinney With the European war raging and the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Wallace felt moved to join the U.S. Marines. His feelings of patriotism and love for his country were strong. At the age of 27, married with three children, Wallace went to Santa Fe to enlist; however, the recruiting sergeant really was not inclined to sign him up. Wallace noticed that there were some Navajo recruits in front of him who had been accepted. He asked the sergeant about their acceptance, but not his; the sergeant told him they were needed for a special communications project. Wallace realized that it was the Navajo language requirement that was the key to his enlistment. Boy, did he have a surprise for them. After conversing with the two Navajos who were there to test bilingual proficiency, Wallace proved his worth and the Marines did accept him for enlistment.