{"id":81721,"date":"2021-11-30T13:01:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=81721"},"modified":"2024-04-24T14:25:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T18:25:23","slug":"the-unbreakable-code-navajo-code-talkers-in-wwii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-unbreakable-code-navajo-code-talkers-in-wwii.html","title":{"rendered":"The Unbreakable Code: Navajo Code Talkers in WWII"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, to celebrate the last day of Native American Heritage Month, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about the Navajo Code Talkers and the key role they played in WWII. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Recent recognition has been made through movies and books of the people responsible for breaking World War II secret military codes. The movie The Imitation Game<\/em> focused on the British team that cracked Nazi codes. Several recent books, such as Liz Munday\u2019s Code Girls<\/em>, spotlight American women who worked at code breaking. War requires secret codes to transmit plans and orders without the enemy understanding what is being discussed.<\/p>\n

One \u201cunbreakable\u201d code the American military used in WWII utilized the Navajo language. The soldiers who worked on transmitting those codes were the Navajo Code Talkers.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Private First Class Preston Toledo (left) and Private First Class Frank Toledo, cousins and full-blooded Navajo Indians, attached to a Marine Artillery Regiment in the South Pacific during WWII. Credit: National Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It makes sense that the best code is one based on a language that few people speak. Enter the Navajo. This 1945 newspaper article called the Navajo language a \u201chidden language.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), 23 September 1945, page 68<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reported:<\/p>\n

\u201cNavajo, however, is one of the world\u2019s \u2018hidden\u2019 languages, as no alphabet or other symbols of it exists in the original form. There are only about 55,000 Navajos, all concentrated in one region, living on Government reservations and intensely clannish by nature, which has confined the tongue to its native area.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Except for the Navajos themselves, only a handful of Americans speak the language. At the time the Marine Corps adopted Navajo as a voice code, it was estimated that not more than 28 other persons, American scientists or missionaries who lived among the Navajos and studied the language for years, could speak Navajo fluently.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fact, the man who suggested the use of Navajo, Philip Johnston, was a son of a missionary who was one of the few non-Navajo who spoke the language. A World War I veteran, he knew the military had previously used the Choctaw language for secret codes and believed the Navajo language would make for an undecipherable code. (1)<\/p>\n

However, even with the Navajo language (which was largely invisible due to a lack of written records), \u201cCode talkers didn\u2019t speak plain language in Navajo, but rather encoded the messages in a phonetic code and incorporated other vocabulary adaptations to meet the needs of modern warfare. Thus, anyone seeking to intercept the messages would have to know both the Navajo language and the codebook.\u201d (2) \u00a0Knowing the Navajo language wasn\u2019t enough to break these codes, making it even more impossible to decipher these secret messages.<\/p>\n

At War and Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n

As of 1945, 500 Navajos were serving their country in the military, but not all of them as code talkers. However, the majority (around 375-420) were. (3) Navajo code talkers were found in the Pacific theatre, where they were instrumental in Marine operations such as the assault on Iwo Jima. (4) \u201cAt Iwo Jima, six Navajo Code Talkers transmitted more than 800 messages without error.\u201d (5) So important was their contribution that \u201c5th Marine Division signal officer Major Howard Connor stated, \u2018Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.\u2019\u201d (6)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 8 December 2001, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Navajo code program was so successful, there were ideas to continue its use. Because of this it was largely kept secret and not discussed in public. It wasn\u2019t until 1968 that the program was declassified and information about it, including stories about the soldiers involved, became more prevalent.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Navajo Code Talkers Monument, Ocala, Florida. Credit: Mlpearc; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even though you can find various mentions of individual Code Talkers and the program in historical newspapers, it wasn\u2019t until August 1982 that President Reagan proclaimed a Navajo Code Talkers Day, which later became an Arizona state holiday (August 14th<\/sup>, Navajo Code Talkers Day). Then in 2001 they received the recognition they deserved: a Congressional Silver Medal (those who developed the code had been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal previously). (7)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Texas), 25 November 2001, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some resources for learning more about the Navajo and the Navajo Code Talkers:<\/p>\n