The code talker program was classified until 1968. The code talkers swore an oath never to speak of the program, or even admit it ever existed.
“They took their oath very seriously, and they wouldn’t talk about it even after it was de-classified,” Freedom said. “What my grandpa did has been lost to history because he never said a word.”
Or, maybe not. There is a remote chance that Lex did leave an account of his time in the service. Lex left his house to his son when he died. Years later, his son found a cassette tape hidden in the recesses of the old home in Grand Portage. The cassette was titled “Family History,” but Porter, along with the rest of his family, have no idea what’s being said on the tape.
“He recorded it in Ojibwe,” Freedom said. “None of us are fluent in Ojibwe.”
It’s a mystery that may one day be unraveled. Freedom hopes to find an elder who’s fluent in Ojibwe to translate the tape. Until then, it will remain an unsettlingly appropriate final transmission from Lex Porter, US Army Code Talker.