The Navajo Code Talkers were successful because
they provided a fast, secure and error-free line of communication by telephone and radio during World War II in the Pacific
. The 29 initial recruits developed an unbreakable code, and they were successfully trained to transmit the code under intense conditions.
What factors led to the success of the Navajo Code Talkers in World War II?
The Code Talkers confused the enemy, made communications secure, maintained an excellent combat record, and created a code that was never broken by the enemy
.
The Code Talkers participated in every major Marine operation in the Pacific theater, giving the Marines a critical advantage throughout the war. During the nearly month-long battle for Iwo Jima, for example,
six Navajo Code Talker Marines successfully transmitted more than 800 messages without error
.
Newman was 94. He had served as a Marine between 1943 and 1945. The Navajo “code talkers” were recruited during the second World War
to help communicate messages on the battlefield
. Their language, which at the time was still unwritten, proved to be an uncrackable code.
One unbreakable code. The Navajo Code Talkers – U.S. Marines of Navajo descent who
developed and utilized a special code using their indigenous language to transmit sensitive information during World War II
– are legendary figures in military and cryptography history.
For example, when they needed to communicate intel about a submarine, they would transmit the words “
iron fish
.” The Coder Talkers revolutionized code transmission not only due to the heightened level of security it provided, but also because of the speed with which transmissions could occur.
After the war, the code talker returned to the Navajo Nation in Arizona,
where he farmed and began a trading post, Begaye’s Corner
. It took decades for the Navajo code talkers’ service to become public knowledge after information on the program was declassified in 1968.
Most people have heard of the famous Navajo (or Diné) code talkers who used their traditional
language to transmit secret Allied messages in the Pacific theater of combat during World War II
.
The Japanese Military
had cracked every code the United States had used through 1942(1). The Marines in charge of communications were getting skittish([1]).
Howard Cooper, a signal officer commanding the Code Talkers, saying, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.” … Of the roughly 400 code talkers who served during World War II,
13 were killed in action
.
During the war, the Navajos had
bodyguards charged with protecting them from capture by the Japanese
, with standing orders to kill them if necessary to protect the code, though none ever had to.
Overdue Recognition
Finally, in
2000
, the United States Congress passed legislation to honor the Navajo Code Talkers and provided them with special gold and silver Congressional Medals.
The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the US Marine Corps to serve in their standard communications units of the Pacific theater. Code talking was
pioneered by the Cherokee and Choctaw peoples during World War I
.
What was the significance of the code talkers?
In both World War I and World War II, but especially the latter, the code talkers provided
U.S. forces with fast communications over open radio waves
, knowing that the enemy was unable to break the code. By all accounts the service of the code talkers was crucial to winning World War II in the Pacific theatre.
Many of the code talkers returned home from the war to
face discrimination, hardship, and the lingering trauma of combat
. They were not even allowed to speak about the invaluable role they played until the code operation was declassified in 1968.
The Navajo Code Talkers were a group of Native Americans who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Their
mission was to send and receive secret coded messages that the enemy could not understand
. The job of these brave Marines was critical to the American victory over Japan.
During WWII, the Navajo code talkers created the only spoken military code never to have been deciphered,
and helped win the war
. 75 years ago, on August 15, 1945, the world celebrated Victory Over Japan, known as VJ Day. It marked the end of World War II, the bloodiest conflict the world has ever known.
With Navajo being so complex and the Code Talkers being such a small group, they recognized and knew each other during transmissions. And once attached units also recognized this,
Code Talkers messages were treated
as critically important, the Japanese couldn’t falsely transmit them.
Why did the code talkers stay in the military after the war was over?
Why did the Code Talkers stay in the military after the war was over?
Many Code Talkers did not have enough qualifying points to get out of the military when the war was ended
, so many became part of the post-war disarmament and peacekeeping efforts in Japan and China.
More than 400 qualified Navajo Code Talkers served during WWII and
only four are still living
. … He continues to share his story and experience as a Navajo Code Talker. MacDonald served in the Marine Corps from 1944 to 1946.
It is
resplendent with exploding sounds and breath checks
, usually called glottal stops, that are difficult for us to make, or even hear. And the complex formation and meaning of words defies the best efforts of most outsiders to acquire even the simplest rudiments of spoken Navajo.
This fascinating and complex language currently has between 120,000 and 170,000 speakers. … For this reason, the number of Navajo speakers is decreasing, and
the language has an endangered status
. Navajo officials are working to promote and preserve this language.
What was significant about the Navajos not being allowed to speak their language?
The tribes could not understand each other
. They were told their language was worthless. The kids were being forced to forget their families because they couldn’t speak to them.
How did Navajo soldiers help the Allies regain islands in the Pacific during World War II?
Navajo soldiers used their native language to code messages that the Japanese could not decipher
.
“They were told that if – if
a code talker was captured to shoot him
,” he says. No direct orders were ever given, Bonham says, and the Marines have always denied they would ever give orders for one Marine to kill another. … When the American flag finally was raised on Iwo Jima, the first news went out in Navajo code.
How old is Sam Sandoval?
Sandoval,
88
, born in Nageezi, New Mexico, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943.
The code primarily used word association by
assigning a Navajo word to key phrases and military tactics
. This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing code-breaking machines.
Did code talkers have body guards?
As co-producer Alison Rosenzweig puts it in the official print companion, Windtalkers: The Making of the Film About the Navajo Code-Talkers of World War II, “
Some code talkers were assigned Marine bodyguards for protection
, but the code itself was to be considered more important than the code talker.
How did Code Talkers show responsibility and courage?
A warrior’s role was to protect, guard and engage in battle with the enemy when it was needed
. The Code Talkers took on these responsibilities that earned them all the recognition they receive for their bravery and courage.
