Sharon Hamilton | Code Talkers, Enigma Machines, and SEAL'S CODE

My trips to Tucson, Phoenix and Scottsdale in March, April and May of this year brought a treasure trove of research I was able to use in fleshing out some of the Native American traditions in SEAL'S CODE, my new book coming 6/30/15.

Among the many original manuscripts I was able to read, were some hand- written notes by code talkers and their families. As you probably know, the Navajo, or Dine as they refer to themselves as, were used by Marines in WWII to come up with a code, or language, that could be used to radio messages from the front lines to command centers, for wars fought in the Pacific. It is said that without the use of this code, we might not have won the war. There is no disagreement, however, that many U.S. lives were saved.

On the European front, our forces were trying desperately to discover the secrets of the Enigma machine which generated code the Germans used, and which was successfully cracked by the U.S. But the Navajo code the code talkers created, was never cracked. Unlike the very intricate Enigma machine “Each cryptograph had two arms, two legs, an M-1 rifle and a helmet.”

Toward the end of WWII the Allied Forces began using Navajo Code in the European theater, it had become so reliable and indispensible.

News of the code talkers was kept top secret until 1962, when it was finally released to the general public. These men who fought, many of them dying, since they were targeted by enemy fire, and occasionally mistaken for Japanese and shot by friendly fire, finally received the medals and some of the recognition they justly deserved in early 1990’s with a visit to the White House. Some of the original code talkers had passed away. Some declined the invitation. All of them were heroes. The last of the original 29 passed away in 2014.

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About Sharon Hamilton

Sharon’s NYT and USA Today bestselling novels are almost-erotic Navy SEAL stories of the SEAL Brotherhood. Her characters follow a spicy road to redemption through passion and true love. This series continues with books 8, SEAL's Promise, releasing in November 2014. All of her SEAL Brotherhood Series are available in audio book. She has maintained an Amazon top 100 author status in Romantic Suspense for since the end of 2012.

Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read before, since they don’t have to go to ground, and can walk around in the full light of the sun. Honeymoon Bite, Book 1 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series, has earned the Amazon designation of #1 Gothic Romance. It and Book 2 in the series, Mortal Bite are both available on audio as well.

Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.

Sharon lives in Sonoma County, California, with her husband and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.

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About SEAL'S CODE

Danny Begay has tried to drive out the voices of his ancestors for most of his young life, but the life springing from his Navajo roots will not die. Summoned back to visit his dying grandfather, one of the original Navajo Code Talkers. Ashamed he has disappointed his hero grandfather he buries himself one more time in the arms of a stranger before he goes back to his home in Northern California.

Luci Tohe teaches at the reservation school, safeguarding the health of her ailing mother and little sister’s future, at the temporary expense of her own. She doesn’t expect the young Dine warrior she meets to be anything but a distraction from her loneliness. She knows she will dream about their hot encounter for years.

Danny cleans his life up, joins the Navy and becomes a SEAL, where he becomes the man he knew he was destined to become. Between deployments, he goes back visit the girl he cannot get out of his mind. The reservation has become a dangerous place for Luci’s family and soon Danny is embroiled in not only saving Luci, but her whole family as well.