Wind Talkers
Code Talkers
How many people can say that their culture has made a huge impact in the history of the United States of America? Can you say that you contributed to a cause bigger than yourself? When it comes to the Navajo Indian Tribe they can say that they have achieved both of these honors. This tribe was a major part of the second world war. Had it not been for this tribe, many of the conversations between the U.S. and allied forces would not have been kept secret. The Navajo were known as the code talkers. They used their native language to transmit messages over the radio so that Japan could not intercept or crack the code. There are many pictures such as these in my paper showing exactly what the Navajo Indians did. One man would write down the message while the other would be on the radio transmitting the message in their native language. There are 3 different dialects to the Navajo language. This is what made it so confusing to the Japanese. With this complex language the Marine Corps could transmit messages of tactics, troop movements, and orders without Japan’s knowledge. The Navajo’s would train for weeks to memorize the language and translation, through this training their speed and accuracy became great. Once on the front lines the Code Talkers could transmit a 3 line message in 20 seconds. It would take a machine code breaker up to 30 minutes to perform this same task. The tribe took much pride in this act through World War 2. Had it not been for the efforts of the Navajo, the Marines would not have been able to take over Iwo Jima. The idea to use the Navajo language as a code came from a man named Phillip Johnston. In WWI the Choctaw language was used to send messages. This brought up the idea because the Navajo language is an unwritten language. Only about 30 non-Navajo knew how to speak this language at the time of WWII. Johnston believed this would answer the call from the military for an undecipherable code.
How many people can say that their culture has made a huge impact in the history of the United States of America? Can you say that you contributed to a cause bigger than yourself? When it comes to the Navajo Indian Tribe they can say that they have achieved both of these honors. This tribe was a major part of the second world war. Had it not been for this tribe, many of the conversations between the U.S. and allied forces would not have been kept secret. The Navajo were known as the code talkers. They used their native language to transmit messages over the radio so that Japan could not intercept or crack the code. There are many pictures such as these in my paper showing exactly what the Navajo Indians did. One man would write down the message while the other would be on the radio transmitting the message in their native language. There are 3 different dialects to the Navajo language. This is what made it so confusing to the Japanese. With this complex language the Marine Corps could transmit messages of tactics, troop movements, and orders without Japan’s knowledge. The Navajo’s would train for weeks to memorize the language and translation, through this training their speed and accuracy became great. Once on the front lines the Code Talkers could transmit a 3 line message in 20 seconds. It would take a machine code breaker up to 30 minutes to perform this same task. The tribe took much pride in this act through World War 2. Had it not been for the efforts of the Navajo, the Marines would not have been able to take over Iwo Jima. The idea to use the Navajo language as a code came from a man named Phillip Johnston. In WWI the Choctaw language was used to send messages. This brought up the idea because the Navajo language is an unwritten language. Only about 30 non-Navajo knew how to speak this language at the time of WWII. Johnston believed this would answer the call from the military for an undecipherable code.
Bibliography: Escue, Lynn. "Coded Contributions." History Today 41 (1991): 13-20. Studies the contributions of Navajo Indians in the Second World War. How they served as `Code Talkers ' while stationed with the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theater; Profiles of the men who transmitted secret messages in a Navajo code; How the code was developed; Frustrations of the Japanese in trying to break the code; Difficulties balancing Native American culture with the modern war; Current pride of the Navajos for their valuable contributions. Google. Google. 15 Oct. 2008 . The majority of my images came from google 's image website. I searched for Navajo Code Talker pictures and selected the few that I believed went well with my paper. "Navajo Code Talkers." MSN Encarta. MSN. 15 Oct. 2008 . Tribe, Navajo. "The Navajo Times." University of San Diego. 15 Oct. 2008 . This is a picture of the Navajo "CodeTalkers" relaxing at camp while refreshing their skills.