RADFORD – Radford University will host a presentation by Zonnie Gorman about the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center Auditorium.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Marine Navajo Code Talkers played a vital role in providing secret communications for the United States in the Pacific theater in World War II. This code baffled the Japanese and played a pivotal role in the American victory.

Gorman’s father, Dr. Carl Gorman, was a highly respected educator, artist and consultant, and one of the original “first twenty-nine” Navajo Code Talkers.  The first twenty-nine were the first group recruited to develop and test the initial Navajo code. Gorman’s lecture will tell the story of the Code Talkers and her father’s role as one of the first twenty-nine.

Ms. Gorman has lectured extensively throughout the United States, including several universities and colleges, N.A.S.A Headquarters in Washington D.C., and Museum of the American Indian in New York. She has appeared in and been consultant to several documentaries including the History Channel documentary, Navajo Code Talkers, and the MGM double DVD release of the 2002 movie Windtalkers.

The lecture is sponsored by the Club Programming Committee (CPC), the Honors Academy, the Math Club, and the Honors Academy Student Organization (HASO).