why do you think Ned was so excited about being taught by Navajo instructors?

With his parents' help, Ned joins the Marines. When he arrives at Fort Defiance Ned has his head shaved and is given new clothes. Ned and his fellow Navajos find boot camp easy because they are used to walking long distance with weight on their backs and doing other physical activities. Many of the white boys who joined at the same time fail to finish boot camp, but all the Navajos make it through. For Ned, it is also a lesson in dealing with white people. Ned actually befriends a fellow recruit when the boy, Georgia Boy, asks for help learning to read.