The Navajo Code Talkers
The map of the Navajo and Hopi reservations ( labeled "Map of the reservations and Four Corners") shows the area where these Athabaskan speaking ex-Canadian people live. Drive north of Flagstaff to Cameron and stop at the Cameron Trading Post to gain a sense of their living conditions. Hogans are being replaced by government track housing. They're a proud, intelligent and industrious culture who continue to struggle to find a balance between their traditions and ours. The Navajo are now the wealthiest of all the tribes. The information below came from the official site constructed by the Navy as a tribute to their major contribution to winning World War II by creating a code the enemy couldn't break. Take a look at the Code Talker Dictionary to appreciate their language.
"Guadalcanal, Tarawa,
Peleliu, and Iwo Jima have one thing in common: they were captured by the Wind
Talkers unit. The Wind Talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in
the Pacific from 1942 to 1945--serving in all six Marine divisions. Many American soldiers
staked their lives on the success of the Navajo code and view the Wind Talkers'
contributions to the war effort as nothing short of monumental. A Marine Corps signal
officer summed up the situation after WW2: "Were it not for the Wind
Talkers, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima and other places."
American Marines on Saipan were
able to use one code that was never broken by the Japanese. Navajo Indian communicators
spoke in a code derived from their exclusive language to help win the battle. The
complexity of the code perplexed the Japanese. It proved impossible to break for many
reasons. For example, there are multiple sounds for vowels used in words which are similar
in spelling but have different meanings. The complexity increased on the receiving end.
Once a Navajo Code Talker obtained the string of unrelated Navajo words, he translated
every word into English. From the collection of English words, he used the first letter in
every word to make a whole word in English. The original Navajo Code Talkers also created
and learned approximately 450 words that represented military terms.
The first group, 29 recruits in
May 1942, developed a dictionary, and also numerous words for military terms that did not
exist in their native tongue. The dictionary and code words had to be memorized before
training was complete.
In recognition of their dedicated
service to America during World War II, the Navajo code talkers were awarded a Certificate
of Appreciation from the President of the United States in December 1981. Their unique
achievements constitute a proud chapter in the history of the United States Marine Corp.
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