
HOGANSBURG, N.Y. (AP) - A member of the Mohawk Indian tribe is seeking official recognition for fellow Mohawks who served as code talkers during World War II.
Jeffrey Whelan of the St. Regis Mohawk tribe in northern New York is working on a project to have the code talkers recognized by Congress and awarded a special medal for their wartime service. Whelan tells the Malone Telegram that he's compiling a list of all Mohawk veterans of World War II, including radiomen who communicated in their native language to confuse the enemy.
Whelan, a Vietnam veteran, says Mohawk code talkers were part of Gen. George Patton's Third Army as it fought its way across North Africa and Europe. Most of the World War II code talkers were Navajo, but members of several other tribes also served in that capacity.