Code Talkers Navajo Heroes in the Pacific Theatre

Code Talkers in WWI Secure communication channels are vital to success in any war Telephone and 2-way radio first used in battle At the battles of St. Etienne and Forest Ferme France Choctaw language used to coordinate assault on German forces 10/27/1918 Was a great success

Code Talkers in WWI Toward the end of the war U.S. Army recruited Cherokee, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Osage as Code Talkers -Used native language but did not write code words

The Navajo in WWII Before U.S.entry into WWII the Navajo Tribal Council declared: The Navajo Nation will “aid and defend our Government and its institutions against all armed conflict.”

Code Talkers in WWII In 1940 The U.S. Army recruited 17 Comanches as Code Talkers -Never used as extensively as Navajo -Primarily in Africa and Europe In 1941 The U.S. Marines recruited 29 Navajo men for special training program -Highly Classified program

Unbreakable Military Code Philip Johnston (Son of Missionaries) -Grew up speaking “trader” Navajo Conceived idea to use Navajo language -<50 people outside reservation knew full language -Tonal language -words change meaning based on pitch -No written language and unstudied Johnston first approached Maj. General Clayton B. Vogel -Had considered use of Indian language before contact

Demonstration Vogel accepts Johnston’s proposal -First demonstration 2/28/ Navajo men who spoke English and Navajo fluently picked for assignment -after a brief period used to work out words with no Navajo equivalent the men transmitted the test message flawlessly

Navajo Talkers in Training The first 29 went through boot camp without knowing what their “special assignment” would be. All of the Navajo recruits complete boot camp -Other recruits had a ~10% dropout rate Their endurance created a Native Mystique and they suffered little prejudice at camp

June 27, 1942

The First 29 After Basic Training Developed original Code 211 Military terms needed equivalents and A-Z alphabet To complete the task: 1. Construct alphabet 2. Choose accurate equivalents 3. Short terms for rapid transmission 4. Memorize all terms

Letter Navajo Meaning Letter Navajo Meaning AWol-la-cheeAnt BShushBear CMoasiCat DBeDeer EDzehElk FMa-eFox GKlizzieGoat HLinHorse ITkinIce JTkele-cho-giJackass KKlizzie-YazzieKidd LDibeh-YazzieLamb MNa-as-tsosiMouse N Nesh-cheeNut O Ne-ahs-jahOwl P Bi-sodihPig Q Ca-yeilthQuiver R GahRabbit S DibehSheep T Than-zieTurkey U No-da-ihUte V A-keh-di-gliniVictor W Gloe-ihWeasel X Al-an-as-dzohCross Y Tsah-as-zihYucca Z Besh-do-glizZinc

See if you can translate the following coded message: MOASI NE-AHS-JAH LHA- CHA-EH DZEH GAH DZEH MOASI DZEH TKIN A-KEH- DI-GLINI DZEH LHA-CHA-EH LetterNavajo wordEnglish word CMOASICat DLHA-CHA-EHDOG EDZEHElk ITKINIce ONE-AHS-JAHOwl RGAHRabbit VA-KEH-DI-GLINIVictor

See if you can translate the following coded message: MOASI NE-AHS-JAH LHA- CHA-EH DZEH GAH DZEH MOASI DZEH TKIN A-KEH- DI-GLINI DZEH LHA-CHA-EH = Code Received LetterNavajo wordEnglish word CMOASICat DLHA-CHA-EHDOG EDZEHElk ITKINIce ONE-AHS-JAHOwl RGAHRabbit VA-KEH-DI-GLINIVictor

Code Talkers in the Pacific Theatre First saw limited use at Guadalcanal -Commanders unsure how to use -Compete with machine sent code message in 2.5 minutes. -machine took 2 hours -became a decisive advantage -Marines decide to recruit more Navajo

Further use of the Code Code expanded every year of the war -By the end >620 code words in vocabulary At wars end over 550 Navajos had become Code Talkers These men had created the only unbroken oral code in the history of warfare

Other Islands taken using Code Talk -Bouganville 11/1-12/26/43 Op. Cartwheel -New Britain 12/26-1/14/44 Op. Dexterity -Mariana Islands: Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu 6/11-10/12/44 Ops. Forager and Stevedore -Iwo Jima 2/19/45-3/16/45 Op. Detachment -Okinawa 4/1/45-6/22/45 Op. Iceberg

Iwo Jima 660 mi S of Japan Extremely long, difficult, deadly battle -150 pill box guns, 16 mi of defensive tunnels ~800 defensive positions Japanese Commander,“Each man will make it his duty to kill ten of the enemy before dying.” Code Talkers used exclusively for ship to shore communication

Iwo Jima Major General Howard Conner, “During the first 48 hours… they sent and received over 800 messages without error.” -Day 5 American flag raised over Mount Suribachi -news relayed to command by Talker Teddy Draper -cost 895 lives including 3 Talkers It took another 20 days to secure the rest of Iwo Jima -6,821 Americans died at Iwo Jima -of ~22,000 defenders only 1,083 surrendered

Okinawa 325 mi. S of Japan Defended by over 100,000 Japanese -180,00 troops attack -Most deadly and prolonged battle in the south Pacific after Guadalcanal -logistics coordinated almost exclusively by Talkers

At Wars End After Hiroshima and Nagasaki Code talkers used to send classified scientific info about bomb to U.S. The Code was classified until 1968 Code Talkers first honored at Marine reunion in Chicago 1969 “If the JIIT could have decoded the Navajo messages...the history of the Pacific War might have turned out completely different.” Fuji Evening Newspaper