In the heat of battle, it is imperative that messages are delivered and received as quickly as possible. It is even more crucial that the messages are encoded so the enemy isn’t forewarned.
In World War II it was determined that there was a crucial need for an unbreakable code that would help the U.S. military communicate while protecting their operational plans. The Germans and Japanese were master codebreakers.
The idea for using the Navajo language as a military code came from Philip Johnston. In 1942 Philip Johnston read a newspaper article about an armored division in Louisiana attempting to come up with a code using Native American languages. Johnston knew the perfect Native American language for the new, unbreakable code.
The Navajo language was unwritten and understood only by those who lived with the Navajos. As a child, Johnston spent most of his childhood on a Navajo reservation and grew up learning the Navajo language and customs. He believed that the Navajo language could be used as the basis for an unbreakable code.
However, World War II wasn’t the first time a Native American language was used to create a code. The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their tribal language and English to send secret strategic messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. It was instrumental in a successful surprise attack against the Germans.
After World War I, Germany and Japan sent students to the United States to study Native American languages and cultures, such as Cherokee, Choctaw, and Comanche. Because of this, many members of the U.S. military services were uneasy about using Code Talkers during World War II. They were afraid the code would be cracked. That was before they learned about the complexity of Navajo.
In spite of security concerns of a code based on a Native American language; it was decided to give Johnston’s idea a try. A pilot project was approved with 30 Navajos and Johnston to participate in the program.
As most know a code talker is the name given to American Indians who used their tribal language to send secret communications on the battlefield. In addition to the Navajo there were at least 14 other Native nations, including the Cherokee and Comanche, that served as code talkers in both the Pacific and Europe.
In 1940 the US Army was the first branch of the military that began recruiting code talkers from places like Oklahoma. Other branches, such as the US Marines and Navy followed. The first 29 recruited Navajos (one dropped out) arrived at Camp Elliott near San Diego in May 1942.
One of the first tasks for these men was to develop and memorize a unique military code using their mostly unwritten language. They were placed in a guarded room until this task was completed. During the course of the war, about 400 Navajos participated in the code talker program.
“The first type of code they created, Type 1 code, consisted of 26 Navajo terms that stood for individual English letters that could be used to spell out a word. “For instance, the Navajo word for “ant,” wo-la-chee, was used to represent the letter “a” in English.”
“Type 2 code contained words that could be directly translated from English into Navajo. A dictionary of 211 terms (later expanded to 411) for military words and names that didn’t exist in the Navajo language was developed. For example, the names of different birds were used to stand for different kinds of planes; for “submarine,” the code talkers agreed to use the term besh-lo, which translates to “iron fish.” This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of English in 20 seconds, not the 30 minutes common with existing code-breaking machines.
A skeptical lieutenant decided to test their skills and the code before trusting them to deliver actual combat messages. The Code Talkers successfully translated, transmitted and re-translated a test message in two and a half minutes. Without the Navajo code, it would have taken hours for a soldier to complete the same task.
Most code talkers were assigned in pairs. During battle, one person would operate the portable radio while the second person would relay and receive messages in the Native language and translate them into English. The Code Talkers were a small elite group; they recognized and knew each other during transmissions. As a result, the enemy couldn’t decipher the code and impersonate the Code Talkers.
Their work was highly dangerous because Japanese soldiers would deliberately target officers, medics, and radiomen. Code talkers had to keep moving while transmitting messages.
The work of hundreds of code talkers was essential to Allied war efforts. They were present and critical to the victories at important battles, including Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion, and Iwo Jima. In fact, 5th Marine Division signal officer Major Howard Connor stated, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”
Approximately 461 Navajo served as code talkers, with 13 killed in action. Since the codes that they developed remained unbroken, the US military wanted to keep the program classified in case the code talkers were needed again in future wars. Upon their discharge, the code talkers swore to never reveal their role in case the code would be needed again.
The hard work of the Navajo Code Talkers was not recognized until after the declassification of the operation in 1968. President Ronald Reagan gave the Code Talkers a Certificate of Recognition and declared August 14 “Navajo Code Talkers Day” in 1982. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a law which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the original 29 Code Talkers.
President George W. Bush presented the medals to the four surviving Code Talkers at a ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington in July 2001.
The Navajo Code is the only military code, in modern history, never broken by an enemy.