# No apology necessary for code name "Geronimo" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 4, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738 "2011-05-04T19:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/1 "2011-05-04T19:40:17Z")
[ > [@](#): > > The leader of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe is looking for a formal apology from President Barack Obama for the government’s use of the code name “Geronimo” for Osama bin Laden. > [@](#): > > Houser says equating Geronimo or any other Native American figure with a “mass murderer and cowardly terrorist” is painful and offensive. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_BIN\_LADEN\_GERONIMO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-04-15-12-20](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BIN_LADEN_GERONIMO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-04-15-12-20)) Tough crap, I say. Get over it. Pussy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/2 "2011-05-04T19:51:50Z")
Geronimo = Latin variant of “Jerome” It’s just a name. It’s like getting pissed at naming conventions for hurricanes, because you happened to be named something like Bertha. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/3 "2011-05-04T20:07:06Z")
Geronimo [wasn’t even Geronimo’s real name:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo) > [@Wikipedia](#): > > “Geronimo” was the name given to him by the Mexicans, but his real name was Goyaałé from the Chiricahua language meaning “one who yawns”; often spelled Goyathlay or Goyahkla in English. If we’d used the code name “Sean” for OBL, do you suppose the Irish would be itchin’ for a fight? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/4 "2011-05-04T20:11:20Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > If we’d used the code name “Sean” for OBL, do you suppose the Irish would be itchin’ for a fight? The Irish are always itchin’ for a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/5 "2011-05-04T20:11:48Z")
Way too whiny. If the government had used ‘Cherokee’ or ‘Ojibway’ or some other tribe name, I could see them getting their loincloths in a twist. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/6 "2011-05-04T20:15:23Z")
My memory might be faulty here, but IIRC code names and code phrases for operations are actually randomly generated, so as not to give anything away to anyone snooping on US operations by puzzling out what the name might imply. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/7 "2011-05-04T20:27:59Z")
I would’ve thought that “Geronimo” could just as easily apply to the “good guys,” the badass Navy SEALs, as their target. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/8 "2011-05-04T20:28:49Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > My memory might be faulty here, but IIRC code names and code phrases for operations are actually randomly generated, so as not to give anything away to anyone snooping on US operations by puzzling out what the name might imply. > > -XT Something like that. Yes you had the awesomely named Operation Overlord in WWII, but you also had Operation Market-Garden, Cornflakes, and Goodwood. Vietnam had Operations Junction City, Babylift and Patio. It’s the luck of the draw. For all we know the next on the list was “Monica Lewinsky.” Quit whinning ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/9 "2011-05-04T20:29:57Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Geronimo = Latin variant of “Jerome” > > It’s just a name. It’s like getting pissed at naming conventions for hurricanes, because you happened to be named something like Bertha. IIRC, Katrina of ‘Katrina And The Waves’ wasn’t thrilled about sharing her name with the storm. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/10 "2011-05-04T20:34:01Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > you also had Operation Market-Garden, Cornflakes, and Goodwood. I’ve never heard of that one. I should bone up. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/11 "2011-05-04T20:36:13Z")
It sounds like the Apache leader has confused the _operation_ name with a code name for Osama. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/12 "2011-05-04T20:44:04Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > It sounds like the Apache leader has confused the _operation_ name with a code name for Osama. Got cite? Actually, I’m asking because I’m curious what the target’s code name was. I may also wander over to a nascent “Operation Geronimo” article on Wikipedia, or otherwise work it in to the “Death of ObL” article. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/13 "2011-05-04T20:45:02Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > It sounds like the Apache leader has confused the _operation_ name with a code name for Osama. [There was some confusion by the media early on,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Neptune_Spear#Code_name) but it seems clear now: the operation was “Neptune Spear,” and the code name for OBL was Geronimo. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/14 "2011-05-04T20:47:20Z")
Send Team Six to talk to Houser. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/15 "2011-05-04T21:29:54Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Something like that. Yes you had the awesomely named Operation Overlord in WWII, but you also had Operation Market-Garden, Cornflakes, and Goodwood. Vietnam had Operations Junction City, Babylift and Patio. It’s the luck of the draw. For all we know the next on the list was “Monica Lewinsky.” > > Quit whinning There are some interesting ones in **Trinity And Beyond**. Apparently, one series of nuclear bomb tests was named “Operation Upshot-Knothole”. The [wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Upshot-Knothole) has more fun names at the bottom; Tumbler-Snapper, Niblick, Plumbbob, and Buster-Jangle, to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/16 "2011-05-04T21:32:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’ve never heard of that one. I should bone up. I saw what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/17 "2011-05-04T21:50:17Z")
Are the Natives pissed about the military’s appropriation of their culture for naming the most badass shit on the planet? Apache helicopter…Comanche helicopter…Tomahawk missile…I’d be honored to have those things named after me or my tribe. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/18 "2011-05-04T21:55:24Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Are the Natives pissed about the military’s appropriation of their culture for naming the most badass shit on the planet? Apache helicopter…Comanche helicopter…Tomahawk missile…I’d be honored to have those things named after me or my tribe. I believe some people are, yes. It is essentializing, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/19 "2011-05-04T22:06:52Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [There was some confusion by the media early on,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Neptune_Spear#Code_name) but it seems clear now: the operation was “Neptune Spear,” and the code name for OBL was Geronimo. Oh. This here is the first mention I’ve seen of the other name. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738/20 "2011-05-04T22:16:02Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Geronimo = Latin variant of “Jerome” > > It’s just a name. It’s like getting pissed at naming conventions for hurricanes, because you happened to be named something like Bertha. Are you saying you don’t think they had the Native American leader in mind when they picked that name? I can kinda sort see why they’d be upset. Maybe this can be a “teachable moment” for Obama, and future presidents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-apology-necessary-for-code-name-geronimo/580738.md?page=2)