Navajo Code Talkers

Two navajo marines. they are sending or recieving a transmission

The Navajo Code Talkers were in effect from 1942-1945. They took part in every assault in the pacific. They used a code that the Japanese never broke. Most of the codes fell; Even Hitler’s mighty enigma was cracked. The reason for this was that the code was an actual language that the Navajos used. It was a spoken language only. There were no symbols. No alphabet, and you had to have extensive exposure to use it. I would compare it to Chinese, as the tone that you use, the syntax and other factors came into play.1 So complicated was it, that a single word could have as many as four different meanings.3

The Navajos were not the only natives to have their language used as a code, in fact in WWI they used other languages, such as Cherokee, Comanche, and according to rumor, Choctaw.2

The code talkers were started by a man named Phillip Johnston. Johnston had lived on a reservation since the age of four; and so picked up the language. “During World War I, he had served with U.S. forces in France, and although too old to fight in World War II, Johnston wanted to aid the current war effort in some way. From the age of four, he had lived on the Navajo Indian Reservation, where his parents were Protestant missionaries, and had consequently grown up speaking the Navajo tongue with his playmates. Now, as he read, the concept of a secret military code based on the Navajo language flashed across his mind.3”

In February 1942, he presented his idea to an authority, Lt. Col. James E. Jones. After listening, he said “In all the history of warfare, that has never been done. No code, no cipher is completely secure from enemy interception. We change our codes frequently for this reason.” he did manage to convince him in the end. He then went to L.A. (he had been there when he got the idea) and sought out bilingual Navajos. He spent nearly two weeks doing so.the cover of a book about them

Johnston put together a presentation and impressed the men at the camp. The leader then wrote an urgent letter to the Marine Corps, asking them to recruit 200 Navajos. The reply was slow and was a little disappointing. They agreed to enlist 30, just over a tenth of the requested amount. They did this to make sure that they didn’t waste time and money. the Navajos worked hard and succeded where some failed. "On one occasion, during a dress parade on a particularly hot day, several non-Indian Marines passed out from the heat, while all of the Navajos, who hailed from the hot climate of the Southwest, remained erect in formation and stood at attention during the personal inspection that followed."3 while at camp, they devised the Navajo code, using words from their language and a few from ours.

through their efforts, the initial thirty proved that they were a good resouce, and the Government soon recruited many more. in the end, they were in all branches of the millitary.without their help, the united states would never have taken Iwo Jima.3the code talkers recieving the medal of honor

after the war, they fell into obscurity, until 2001. It was then that President Bush awarded them the congressional gold medal.they went unrecognised for abou 50 years

Medal Earned By Navajo Code Talkers

The United States created these medals to Express their thanks to the Navajo CodeTalkers for there wonderful sacrafices to the United States.

1 www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
2 http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/07/26/code.talkers/
3www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-navajo-code-talkers.htm
4 http://bingaman.senate.gov/features/codetalkers/call.cfm