SD Capitol group OKs Native American code talkers memorial

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A proposed Pierre memorial to Native American wartime code talkers took a step closer to becoming a reality this week when the Capitol Complex Restoration and Beautification Commission unanimously approved the site and design for the monument.

"I think this is long overdue," Carla Sahr, one of the eight commission members, said at the meeting.
Code talkers used their native languages to send battlefield communications during World Wars I and II so they couldn't be understood by the enemy if they were intercepted.

The Pierre monument will include the names of about 200 code talkers from South Dakota, KCCR radio reported. The goal is to unveil it by fall 2017, according to state Veterans Affairs Secretary Larry Zimmerman.

The monument is being spearheaded by veterans service officers, the state Department of Tribal Relations and the state Department of Veteran's Affairs. It's to be 20 feet long and 8 to 10 feet high, with life-size bronze statues in front. It would be placed between the Capitol Lake Visitors Center and the Fighting Stallions Memorial.

County veterans service officers are raising money for the memorial, with the help of the South Dakota Community Foundation. About half a million dollars is needed.
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Information from: KCCR-AM, http://www.todayskccr.com/