pam on Nostr: Reading about the Navajo Code Talkers during WW2. The Japanese army deciphered all of ...
Reading about the Navajo Code Talkers during WW2. The Japanese army deciphered all of the US army codes except for the marines who used the Navajo Codes.
Navajo language is complex with tonal features and intricate syntax. Each syllable has its own meaning and is spoken perfectly. Even the slightest change of tone will represent diff meaning. I found this challenge while learning Mandarin which has 4 diff tones and the same character in a diff tone means something else.
The idea of Navajo code talkers came from Philip Johnson who grew up in the Navajo reservations in Arizona and learnt the language since young. He proposed the concept to the Marine corps and they agreed to test it out.
They went on to recruit their 1st batch of 29 Navajos to join the marines.
The Navajo reservation (Navajo Nation) stretches across parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. There were about 50,000 Navajo Indians living on the reservation at this time (mid 90s).
Backtrack a little, in the 1860’s the Navajo people were forcefully removed from their ancestral lands in Arizona and walked for months, known as the "Long Walk," Many Navajo people died or suffered greatly due to harsh conditions, lack of food and water, and mistreatment by the U.S. military.
4 years later they were allowed to return but were placed on a reservation in what is now northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.
The 1868 Navajo treaty that promised “free education” was a dark chapter in Native American history (the Indian boarding school era) where Navajo children were separated from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools and taught to assimilate into mainstream American culture and the Euro-American society by erasing their cultural identity and language.
Although the Navajo people were treated unfairly for decades, this did not stop the gov’t from asking Navajos for help during World War II or placing them as frontliners. The Navajo men had no idea what awaited them as Marine.
The 29 first recruits were to complete basic training (boot camp) in San Diego, California. The Navajos grew up living off the land—having to hunt, fish, haul water, and build homes. Yet it was seemingly the smaller requirements of marine life that were difficult for the Navajo recruits esp ie keeping their hair short, maintaining eye contact, wearing uniform etc. But cultural differences did not stop them.
All 29 Navajo recruits graduated from boot camp and went on to the next stage - creating the codes - at Camp Elliott in Southern Cali.
Here, they were taught basic electronics, how to communicate effectively through radio broadcasts, and how to use, maintain, and repair the radios they would be using in the field. Only then they went on to create the codes.
The Navajo Code Talkers created a coding system by:
1. Assigning English words to represent each letter (e.g., A=apple, B=bear).
2. Translating these English words into Navajo (e.g., apple=be-la-sana, bear=shush).
3. Using the Navajo words to represent each letter (e.g., A=be-la-sana, B=shush).
4. Further complicating the code by using three Navajo words for each letter (e.g., A=apple, ant, ax).
For example, to transmit "navy," they would say the Navajo code words for each letter (nesh-chee, wol-la-chee, a-keh-di-glini, tsah-as-zih).
The Navajo men practiced again and again until they could send and translate three-line messages in 20 seconds without any mistakes.
With the first recruit doing so well, hundreds of Navajos were recruited further to head to war
Navajo code talkers were sent to war during the summer of 1942. Since the Japanese were skilled at locating radio signals, the Navajo Code Talkers had to quickly set up, send code and decode, and relocate their equipment.
They were often at the forefront of battles, carrying bulky radios, setting up equipment under enemy fire and translating messages for U.S. troops in major Pacific battles.
During the Feb–March 1945 battle at Iwo Jima, 6 Navajo Code Talkers worked day and night sending over 800 messages, flawlessly.
This was a significant contribution to the US’s victory. The Navajo men were “the simplest, fastest, and most reliable” way to send secret messages, wrote Marine Captain Ralph Sturkey in his Iwo Jima battle report.
The Japanese never broke the Navajo code and surrendered in August 1945.
The Navajo code talkers were not allowed to talk about their experience when they returned home. Their code was classified. These decorated war heroes quietly went back to their lives on the reservation.
24 years later, in 69’ the militatry officially released the code and the stories of the Navajo Code Talkers started spreading. Aug 14 was declared as the National Navajo Code Talker Day.
56 years later after the Iwo Jima victory, the 29 original code talkers were awarded with Congressional Gold Medals. Only five were still alive to accept the award.
Navajo language is complex with tonal features and intricate syntax. Each syllable has its own meaning and is spoken perfectly. Even the slightest change of tone will represent diff meaning. I found this challenge while learning Mandarin which has 4 diff tones and the same character in a diff tone means something else.
The idea of Navajo code talkers came from Philip Johnson who grew up in the Navajo reservations in Arizona and learnt the language since young. He proposed the concept to the Marine corps and they agreed to test it out.
They went on to recruit their 1st batch of 29 Navajos to join the marines.
The Navajo reservation (Navajo Nation) stretches across parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. There were about 50,000 Navajo Indians living on the reservation at this time (mid 90s).
Backtrack a little, in the 1860’s the Navajo people were forcefully removed from their ancestral lands in Arizona and walked for months, known as the "Long Walk," Many Navajo people died or suffered greatly due to harsh conditions, lack of food and water, and mistreatment by the U.S. military.
4 years later they were allowed to return but were placed on a reservation in what is now northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.
The 1868 Navajo treaty that promised “free education” was a dark chapter in Native American history (the Indian boarding school era) where Navajo children were separated from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools and taught to assimilate into mainstream American culture and the Euro-American society by erasing their cultural identity and language.
Although the Navajo people were treated unfairly for decades, this did not stop the gov’t from asking Navajos for help during World War II or placing them as frontliners. The Navajo men had no idea what awaited them as Marine.
The 29 first recruits were to complete basic training (boot camp) in San Diego, California. The Navajos grew up living off the land—having to hunt, fish, haul water, and build homes. Yet it was seemingly the smaller requirements of marine life that were difficult for the Navajo recruits esp ie keeping their hair short, maintaining eye contact, wearing uniform etc. But cultural differences did not stop them.
All 29 Navajo recruits graduated from boot camp and went on to the next stage - creating the codes - at Camp Elliott in Southern Cali.
Here, they were taught basic electronics, how to communicate effectively through radio broadcasts, and how to use, maintain, and repair the radios they would be using in the field. Only then they went on to create the codes.
The Navajo Code Talkers created a coding system by:
1. Assigning English words to represent each letter (e.g., A=apple, B=bear).
2. Translating these English words into Navajo (e.g., apple=be-la-sana, bear=shush).
3. Using the Navajo words to represent each letter (e.g., A=be-la-sana, B=shush).
4. Further complicating the code by using three Navajo words for each letter (e.g., A=apple, ant, ax).
For example, to transmit "navy," they would say the Navajo code words for each letter (nesh-chee, wol-la-chee, a-keh-di-glini, tsah-as-zih).
The Navajo men practiced again and again until they could send and translate three-line messages in 20 seconds without any mistakes.
With the first recruit doing so well, hundreds of Navajos were recruited further to head to war
Navajo code talkers were sent to war during the summer of 1942. Since the Japanese were skilled at locating radio signals, the Navajo Code Talkers had to quickly set up, send code and decode, and relocate their equipment.
They were often at the forefront of battles, carrying bulky radios, setting up equipment under enemy fire and translating messages for U.S. troops in major Pacific battles.
During the Feb–March 1945 battle at Iwo Jima, 6 Navajo Code Talkers worked day and night sending over 800 messages, flawlessly.
This was a significant contribution to the US’s victory. The Navajo men were “the simplest, fastest, and most reliable” way to send secret messages, wrote Marine Captain Ralph Sturkey in his Iwo Jima battle report.
The Japanese never broke the Navajo code and surrendered in August 1945.
The Navajo code talkers were not allowed to talk about their experience when they returned home. Their code was classified. These decorated war heroes quietly went back to their lives on the reservation.
24 years later, in 69’ the militatry officially released the code and the stories of the Navajo Code Talkers started spreading. Aug 14 was declared as the National Navajo Code Talker Day.
56 years later after the Iwo Jima victory, the 29 original code talkers were awarded with Congressional Gold Medals. Only five were still alive to accept the award.