Navajo Code Talkers
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World War II erupted in the Pacific Ocean with the bombing of Pearl harbor by the Japanese. During the early month in the Pacific, Japanese intelligence experts broke every code in the United States devise for the combat messages.
In any war situation, the rapid and accurate transmission of combat messages is essential. Japan was learning in advance, the time, place and direction the American attack forces would be deployed. Something had to be done to enable the American forces to communicate freely and secretly in the Pacific.
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, a group of 29 volunteers left the tranquil canyons and mesas of their Navajo homeland. Little did they know of the crucial role they were about to play in the U.S. war effort. These 29 volunteers were the direct result of an idea presented to the marines by Philip Johnston. His idea born from his childhood days as a missionary’s son living on the Navajo Reservation, was ingenious.
The idea was to devise a code utilizing the complex unwritten language of the Navajo. Knowing the complex syntax and intricate tonal qualities of the language, he convinced the Marines it would baffle the best of cryptographers. Johnston said the language could be used as a basis for a code to transmit vital information and battle plans.
With the help of the 29 Navajo volunteers the task of creating code terms was underway. Words from their native tongue were selected to describe complex military equipment and operation. Where possible, Navajo words that had a logical association with the desired military term were selected. Thus the Navajo word for frog, "ch’al", became the code word for amphibious and "ch’ah ligia" (white hats) became sailors. Similarly potatoes became grenades, eggs were bombs and America became "nihima" (our mother).
At full strength there were about 400 Navajo’s who were "Code Talkers". These men were considered so valuable that each had been assigned a personal bodyguard. The Navajo Code Talkers were so effective the Japanese were completely baffled and their master cryptographers never broke the code. In the words of Major Howard Conner, signal officer of the Fifth marine division at Iwo Jima "during the first 48 hours, while we were landing and consolidating our shore positions, I had six Navajo radio networks operating around the clock. In that period alone, they send and received over 800 messages with out an error." Conner went on to say that "were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."
The first formal recognition of the Navajo Code Talkers and their vital contribution to the war effort come 25 years after the war was over on June 28, 1969. The Fourth Marine Division honored the Navajo Code Talkers with medallions commemorating their efforts. This began a string of recognition which has included proclamations from the States of Arizona and New Mexico. On July 28, 1982 the President of the United States singed a measure proclaiming August 14th as "National Navajo Code Talkers Day".
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