Navajo Code Talkers

Navajo Code Talkers About 400 Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. Served in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942-1945, their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end.

Navajo Code Talkers The secret code created by the Navajo Code Talkers was a surprisingly simple marvel of cryptographic innovation. Contained native terms that were associated with specialized or commonly used military language, as well as native terms that represented the letters in the alphabet.

Navajo Code Talkers For example, the Navajo word for tortoise, "chay-da-gahi," meant tank, and a dive-bomber, "gini," was a "chicken hawk," (a bird which dives on its prey). Sometimes the translation was more literal, as in "besh-lo" (iron fish) which meant submarine; other times it was metaphorical, as in "ne-he-mah" (our mother), which meant America. Video

Navajo Code Talkers In 2001, nearly 60 years after they created their legendary code, the Navajo Code Talkers finally received well-deserved Congressional Medals of Honor.