In 1942, US military officials visited the Navajo Nation and recruited 29 Navajo men to train as Code Talkers in the Marines. Code Talkers used their tribal language to send secret messages on the battlefield. By the end of the war, more than 400 Navajos were trained as Code Talkers, participating in nearly every major Marine operation in the Pacific Theater. Their code remained unbroken throughout the war, and their contributions helped the United States achieve victory in the Pacific.
During WWI, soldiers from the Cherokee and Choctaw tribes became the first known US Code Talkers. Seeing their success at passing messages in code, WWI veteran Philip Johnston, who grew up on the Navajo reservation as the son of missionaries, proposed Navajo Code Talkers at the beginning of WWII. Marine officials were hesitant, worried that using a tribal code may not work again. After seeing an impressive demonstration, military officials began recruiting Navajos into the Marines.
Navajos had to meet three requirements to be a Code Talker: first, they had to be fluent in both Navajo and English. Second, they needed to be between 17 and 30 years old, and finally, they had to pass basic training. The original 29 recruits left the Navajo nation and began to develop a coded alphabet. To accomplish this, they chose an English word for each letter of the alphabet, then translated that English word into Navajo. For example, the word for the letter “a” was ant, and the Navajo translation for ant was Wol-la-chee. The Code Talkers also developed code words for military words. Officials were pleased and surprised at how quickly and accurately coded messages could be sent and received. Instead of the standard 30 minutes needed using code-breaking machines, the Code Talkers could translate three lines of English in 20 seconds.
Their work was dangerous. Code Talkers often worked in pairs, with one person operating the radio and the other receiving and relaying the messages. Radio operators were already a target, so Code Talkers had to keep moving as they performed their work. During the first two days of the Battle of Iwo Jima, they transmitted 800 messages without a single mistake. At least 14 other Native nations also served as Code Talkers during WWII, but the Navajos were the most formally organized. One of the original 29 Code Talkers, Allen Dale June, joined the Marines when he was 17. The irony of being asked to defend the country was not lost on June or other Code Talkers. “Naturally we were concerned about the survival of the country in the Great War at the time. At the same time, we were defending our own country, the Navajo Nation,” he said.
The Code Talkers were so successful that military officials wanted to keep the program classified. After the war, Code Talkers remained quiet about their service for 23 years. Finally, in 1968, the project was declassified, and the Navajo Code Talkers received public recognition for the first time. That recognition extended on a national level when in 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared August 14 as Navajo Code Talkers Day. In 2001, the 29 original Code Talkers were honored with Congressional Gold Medals by President George W. Bush.
If you would like to learn more about Navajo Code Talkers, search Fold3® today.
These men gave so much to our country! Makes me very proud for them as well as their Navajo nation for their excellence.
A few years back we stopped at a Navajo business. We talked about these men. What up set me and clearly the person I was talking to was that the younger generation were not learning their ancestors language and skill.
This is a horrible loss for the Navajo nation but also us. The young men and women throughout the great Indian Nation should be encouraged to learn about their language, skills, history.
We all need to remember our ancestors!
My deepest wishes would be that maybe soon we open our mind to learn more about all of our First Nations tribes, values, culture as well as treating all with respect and giving the dignity they deserve by leaving prejudices behind.
They were remarkable individuals with a high sense of duty and love of their country. Let’s not forget their magnificent contribution.
You are so right . What a great legacy for our country
Please keep in mind the Sioux Code Talkers who started in World War 1 with the same practices.
Yes they are all very important and we must never forget all of the code talkers. Thank you for bringing that up and thank you all code talkers.
Thank you. Remain Proud with a humble ❤
In searching back several generations I find that I have Monacan ancestry through a maternal
grandmother. Trying to verify through Heritage and the Mormon records in Salt Lake City. I have no record of any language the people spoke and only know their community was and is near Amherst, Virginia. That state did not recognize them as citizens until near the middle of the 1900s. d
Proudly searching to become a part of the origins of this great land.
A few years ago when we visited Monument Valley we had a young Navajo guide. Sean was excellent and very friendly. Before we returned to Phoenix we stopped in town to visit the Code Talkers Museum display. Those men deserve our thanks tenfold. They and Sean are a credit to the great Navajo Nation.
Here are the names and addresses of two people who may be able to provide you with additional information about the Monacans:
Chief Kenneth Branham, 111 Highview Dr., Madison Heights, VA 24572;
Brenda Garrison, Senior Warden, St. Paul’s Episcopal Mission (Monacan Nation), 2009 Kenmore Rd., Amherst, VA 24521.
The Navajo men who served as Code Talkers, as all the young men and women who served and/or fought in WWII, deserve our eternal gratitude for their bravery and service. American of that generation seem to be a “cut above” subsequent generations. Tom Brokaw’s name of “The Greatest Generation” is very appropriate.
Great comments. I am sure that there were other native Americans like marine PFC Ira Hayes who helped raise the flag on Mt Suribachi that contributed to
the war effort.
I was honored to meet 5 of the Navajo Code Talkers in Albuquerque several years ago. I wish I had taken more time to visit in depth with them but had time constraints. We did thank them for their brave service and was so glad to have met them.
This was a very good article, however, it leaves out one very important fact. Not only did the Code Talkers have to meet the requirements mentioned in the article, but they also accepted the fact that they should they find themselves in a position where they could be captured by the enemy they would be killed by the U.S. military to prevent disclosure of the coding method. If you have not seen the 2002 movie “Windtalkers” staring NIcholas Cage, you should. And while you are at it, take a look at “Navajo Code Talkers of World War II” which can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r_KExR5Njw.
Windtalkers with Gage is a totally disrespectful Holllwood depiction of the Navajo Nation. The movie name gives one an impression that the film is about the Native Marines. Instead we have multiple minutes dealing with the psychological problems of Gage’s character.
Was so disappointed when I saw the film. Several weeks earlier I attended a meeting where three of Marines told the story of before WWII, the war and after the war. This was the real story rather than the trash from Hollywood.
Use YouTube to better understand the story of the Code Talkers
Please remember that there were also Mohawk code talkers
My father was a radio operator with the 4th Signal Company, Headquarters Battalion, 4th Marine Division during WWII. He worked with many code talkers during all four campaigns that the 4th Marine Division took part in. He had nothing but praise for those men. You can see some of his comments in Doris Paul’s book, “The Navajo Code Talkers.” And to set the record straight, what was suggested in the movie “Windtalkers” about killing code talkers by US military personnel if in a position to be captured is purely Hollywood.
Thank you for sharing this info – I was a Marine recruiter stationed in Flagstaff AZ 1967- 1970 & the Navajo Nation was part of my recruiting area – they were and I am sure still are, a very proud people. The reputation of the Code Talkers made recruiting much easier for me during this war period. A very proud Nation!
Wonderful comment. Thank you.
As Dee said in this thread “open our mind to learn more about all of our First Nations tribes, values, culture as well as treating all with respect and giving the dignity they deserve by leaving prejudices behind.” Let’s not forget this. These Native American code talkers are a tremendous asset to our country and they deserve to be honored and celebrated and not forgotten.
Ase’…. This article is very much appreciated… I’m in search of my own background into finding out more about the many different tribes of our diverse country… Our ancestors history is very important to me and finding the fact that I am of a great nation. To read that our ancestors were apart of the structure of this nation and also have been the protectors as well despite the fact of being slaughter for this same nation is and was very astonishing to read… I would looooooove to sit down with a native code talker and learn from them… It will be very good for my soul. Soon come… Soon come. I salute each and every one of them. Ase’
Hi, As a young boy at 7yrs old my family lived out west in the small town of Baird, TX — my dad worked on the Texas and Pacific RR which ran straight through town. During the year 1947 the soldiers from WWII rode the rails on what everyone called “Troop Trains” returning the men to their homes. One train I recall came roaring through with most of the troops hanging out the windows and yelling at life in general. What I and the rest of the kids along the track liked best was they threw coins at us – along with other things. One thing I picked up that was thrown was an army helmet with a figure painted on it – it’s a red diamond shape with a yellow “thunderbird” in the middle of it.. Interestingly, I looked it up and found it represented the “Code Talkers” who were heading back to New Mexico. Almost 75yrs later I still have the helmet and would like to donate it to an appropriate Native American Museum. If anyone knows such a museum please email me.
Don’t know who has a WWII Code Talkers exhibit, but you might want to contact the WWII Museum in New Orleans. If they don’t have an appropriate museum, maybe they can tell you who does. What an awesome part of history that you have!
You might want to contact the WWII Museum in New Orleans, La. If they don’t have an exhibit, maybe they can refer you to a museum that does. Good luck. And what an awesome piece of history you have!!
WOW ROBERT,
WHAT A GREAT STORY AND TREASURED MEMORY! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING!
I JUST DID A GOOGLE SEARCH AND THERE IS A CODE TALKERS MUSEUM. HERE ARE THE DETAILS FROM THEIR WEB PAGE:
NAVAJO CODE TALKERS MUSEUM
Located in Tuba City, just a few short steps away from the Explore Navajo Interactive Museum, the Navajo Code Talkers Museum has actual gear and tools used in battle, victory stories, transcripts of a Code Talker and exceptionally detailed photos.
The Code Talker’s primary job in World War II was to talk and transmit information on tactics, troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield information via telegraphs and radios in their native dialect. A major advantage of the code talker system was its speed. The method of using Morse code often took hours where as, the Navajos handled a message in minutes. It has been said that if was not for the Navajo Code Talker’s, the Marines would have never taken Iwo Jima.
10 Main Street
Tuba City, Arizona 86045
Phone (928) 283-5441
IDK IF THEY WILL ANSWER THE PHONE
SINCE ALL THEIR MUSEUMS ARE CLOSED DUE TO COVID, YOU MIGHT TRY THEIR WEB PAGE TO SEE IF YOU COULD REACH SOMEONE THAT WAY.
THEIR WEB PAGE IS:
https://www.discovernavajo.com/discover-the-navajo-nation/museums/
ROBERT,
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MUSEUM PAGE IS A FACEBOOK LINK. IT ISN’T TO THE MUSEUM ITSELF BUT IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO REACH THE MUSEUM PERHAPS, CONTACTING OR POSTING YOUR STORY AND DESIRE THERE WOULD BE ANOTHER OPTION?
IF YOU DON’T HAVE FACEBOOK, MESSAGE ME AND I’LL POST IT FOR YOU. THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING:
https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverNavajo
Look in the previous statements above. It says that there is a code talkers museum in Monument Valley… google probably has that info.
Ever since I was a child and learned about the Native Americans and their sacrifices for the Great U. S. Government, I almost hate being called a citizen of USA. And then to learn that the Native Americans were not considered citizens until the mid-1900s. The gall! The Native Americans are the ONLY TRUE CITIZENS of the USA. The rest of the population living here, including me, are usurpers of their lands. True, we cannot turn back the hands of time to right all the wrongs done to them, but, please, let us have respect for their peoples and especially for their brave service.
Shirley, I think what you said is so very very true. Man’s greed has no bounds. That greed coupled with the discrimination and disregard for human and animal life, is a curse on all of us. I used to enjoy cowboy and Indian movies, not any more. I have lost respect for George Washington and all the other so called “ founding fathers”, not only for the fact that they had hundreds of enslaved men and women but their treatment of the Native Americans, which continues today.
The sacrifices the Navaho people willingly made makes it even more significant and heroic. I am truly grateful for their, and other ww2 vets service to defend the World against the Hateful perpetrators of that war. May God bless them.
AMEN
Native Americans didn’t gain citizenship until 1924. In New Mexico they couldn’t vote until 1948, 3 years after the war.
WOW, I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE THERE WAS A NATIONAL CODE TALKERS DAY. I JUST WATCHED WINDTALKERS LAST NIGHT FOR THE UMTEENTH TIME. THESE AMAZING AND BRAVE MEN PUT ASIDE GENERATIONS OF OPRESSION BY THE WHITE PEOPLES AND FOUGHT FOR A COUNTRY THAT TO THIS DAY IS STILL TAKING MORE FROM THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL!
May the Almighty Creator greatly bless you descendants of the code talkers and the few who remain alive. The irony of the service you gave to save the country and literally the world after the way you were treated by the same people who came looking for your help is not lost on many of us. Please forgive those who don’t recognize it yet. No amount of thanks would ever be enough.
My parents were teachers in a couple of towns in the southwest along the Santa Fe Railroad, where many Navajos were employed as track crews. As a youngster I recall hearing whispers about so-and-so being codetalkers. I had a Navajo nanny whenI was one to two and a half years old
There’s a terrible injustice in this story in that one of the original 29 code talkers, Pte. Jesse Kenepah did not get the congressional medal that he served for due to a clerical error. His family would like to see this remedied. Zonnie M. Gorman wrote about this in her thesis on the Code Talkers which you can see here https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=hist_etds
I’ll bet if everyone who reads this sends a letter to the president requesting that
Pte Jesse Kenepah should get his medals
That if it got enough letters an attention
This mistake could be rectified!
The family inform me that Jesse received the medal posthumously and is now with his son. Good to hear that they managed to get the wrong put right.
Please publish a story about the Lakota code talkers. I know there were many who served and were told never to speak of their wartime job. They should be acknowledged now, too.
Amen sister !
I am glad to see the Code Talkers of the First World War finally recognized as well. My father served in France with the Choctaw talkers. He admired both their bravery and the cleverness, using their language to send messages that no German could decode. When the recognition was given to the Second World War Code Talkers, he wondered why no one was honoring the ones from the First World War.
I would love to know the names of all the nations that served as Code Talkers. These men are to be honored greatly for their role as their codes were never broken in either W WI or WWII. Who are the surviving members of this elete group?
Not sure if it’s all encompassing but the US Mint has (or had) a commemorative coin program honoring the WWII Code Talkers. unknown if all are listed, but there are 28 bronze medals honoring the tribes who had Code Talkers. You can find the medals at the following web site: https://catalog.usmint.gov/medals/code-talkers/ . Many Blessings to all who gave some and to some that gave all. from a Vietnam Vet.
TJ EM,
FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANT, LET ME SAY HUMBLY AND SINCERELY, “FROM THE BOTTOM WELCOME HOME BROTHER AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!!”
SECONDLY, I FOUND A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE COINS THAT WERE ISSUED AND THE TRIBES THEY RECONIZED FOUND HERE.
IT’S QUITE AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF THE 33 TRIBES HONORED FOR THEIR SERVICE, THE LINK CAN BE FOUND HERE. https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/medals/native-american-code-talkers
THERE WERE ALSO CODE TALKERS WHO SERVED IN NAM TOO.
WITH SISTERLY LOVE A FELLOW VET AND DAUGHTER OF MY DAD, MALCOLM D. KNIGHT
WHO JUST PASSED AWAY THIS APRIL. HE SERVED ABOARD THE USS KEARSARGE, IN THE VS-21 FIGHTING REDTAILS SQUADRON, VIETNAM 1958-1964.
GOD BLESS SIR!
Thank you for the information. I looked it up and learned so much. BTW thank you for your service also TJ from a grateful American.
DIANA,
THERE WERE ACTUALLY 33 TRIBES THAT WERE RECOGNIZED UNDER THE “The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008” WITH TWO ADDITIONAL TRIBES WHO ARE ELIGABLE FOR RECOGNITION UNDER THE ACT.
THE TRIBES ARE TOO MANY TO LIST HERE, I WISH I HAD THE ABILITY TO DO SO BUT YOU CAN FIND EACH OF THEM WITH ASSOCIATED LINKS AT THIS WEB ADDRESS FOR THE U.S. MINT. https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/medals/native-american-code-talkers
Code Talkers also served in the North African Theater and the European Theater during WWII. My father was a radio operator and a communications sergeant in both theaters. He was responsible for maintaining the radio transmitters and receivers mounted in the tanks of his unit. As a child I remember him telling me about the Code Talkers he encountered. He said they were among the first ones in the field setting up lines of communication. He had a lot of respect for them and the danger they faced.
In my research of my father’s war experiences, I found that the Meskwaki (Fox) tribe served in North Africa with the 168th Iowa Regiment, 34th division and the Comanche tribe served in the European Theater with the 4th Signal Company, 4th Infantry Division. Code Talkers were also used in Vietnam but to a lesser extent.
hi, you mentioned other tribes being code talkers… wish you would give them the credit they deserve… i know for sure there were 5 mohawk code talkers… why are they left in the dark…otherwise good article…
There were also Hopi code talkers. I visited a Hopi grandma at her home in Oraibi in the early 2000’s. She was sewing a large kilt with pieces of the american flag for the 90 years anniversary of a hopi Code Talker. Fascinating story. I had read about the history of the Hopi people and their past suffering. Whatever, they served to help the United States.
We owe honor, respect and gratitude to all of the code talkers and ALL of the Native Americans who have served our country in war and peace…and to those many more millions who have been forgotten after we sent them on trails miles and miles from their homes, took away their lands and their heritage and their roots, and made mockery of them with “red” titles. We have so much to make up to them now and in the future–let’s not forget that they, too, and their heirs and progeny matter.
I taught high school for 13 years on the Navajo Nation during which time two Code Talkers spoke at a school assembly. I can’t tell you how impressed I was by them and the respect and esteem they received from the students. I have often wondered if their forced silence at the end of the war wasn’t a subterfuge for not giving them credit. Certainly, keeping the code and how it was developed a secret was of utmost importance, but the Japanese and Germans obviously knew of its existence.
There is a pattern at the time of America refusing to acknowledge help from other sources and hogging all the glory for itself. As someone who has been to the D-Day beaches in Normandy several times and spent hours in the museums on site, I can tell you there is almost zero chance the landing would have been successful without the French Resistance. The Atlantic Wall blockhouses defended against the sea but had no defense from behind. Hitler had battalions of soldiers and Panzers in reserve to send to wherever the attack took place. The resistance cut communications and destroyed railway bridges and track preventing said reinforcements from arriving until the allies had time to establish beachheads. Our troops on their own scaled the cliffs and attacked the blockhouses from behind. Once a few fell, a chain reaction took place. If Panzers had been sitting there, it would have been a few foot soldiers against Panzers. No contest.
Did the role of Code Talkers influence the decision to drop the A bomb? Without the bomb, Code Talkers would have received a large amount of credit for winning the war in the Pacific. Native Americans had accomplished something the regular army couldn’t. I understand the role the bomb had in ending quickly the war and saving American lives. However, if that’s the case, what was the logic in covering up the role of the Code Talkers? They were no longer instrumental in the victory. President Harry Truman authorized the bomb. He also was the president who involved America in the war against Vietnam. Before Truman, America’s involvement had been in favor of the forces fighting for Vietnam’s independence. Truman switched sides and made the same mistake as King George III and George W Bush – namely trying to wage a war opposed by the opponent’s population on their home soil. Genocide is the only way you can win such a war. What was permissible in 1776 and 1848 is no longer acceptable today.
Truman precipitated America into a downslide that has continued until today. How do you recover from such a blunder? One step at a time, and I would suggest the first step to be a little sunshine on the Code Talkers, these most honorable and courageous of Americans who fought for their country even when their country would not even give them the right to vote.
These men deserve our thanks and gratitude. Thank you for your service.
I lived in Massachusetts then Florida. Since living in AZ I met a Navajo family. They are my neighbors. The dad’s uncle was a Code Talker and I got to meet him. Turns out he probably worked with MY uncle who was a Marine in the Pacific. Unfortunately, my Uncle had passed away before I moved to AZ. I have also met people from the Hopi Nation, and members of the Salt River/Pima/Maricopa/Indian Community. They are all truly wonderful people. As a side note when my oldest granddaughter was in pre-school, she had a classmate who was Navajo and taught them to count in Navajo. I am now learning Navajo on the app Duolingo. I love it.
Wow that is so awesome. I have met Native Americans when I have visited my sister in AZ, but only when stopping in at their shops to buy their wares. I figured it was a good thing to buy wares from a Native American instead of another type of store, either from driving through a reservation on our way to somewhere else or just someone’s shop on the side of the road (now that I think of it, probably in a reservation).
Let us not forget that on the other side of the world, the 442 RCT and the 100 Battalion were of Japanese decent and spoke fluent Japanese and English. Drove the Germans and Italians nuts. They neither spoke or understood Japanese or their local jargon. My deepest respect to all of the men and women who served our country and our military. The use of their multi-lingual skills has never been fully appreciated.
Native Americans did so much for the U.S. (as well as their Nations) during WWI & WWII. They put themselves in harm’s way, because radio operators were always targets. They are true heroes. We owe so much to them. We being non-Native Americans as well as Native Americans.
I have a deep respect for these men of honor, bravery, and commitment to the country in such a needed time in our history. These men deserve all the nation honor’s them with. There are no words worthy to express the gratitude
we retired military service members have for these few. God knows each of these and holds them close to His peace I’m sure…
I was honored years ago to help do research at NARA-STL on the Code Talkers by looking at their
military files. Will always be proud to had the priviledge of working on the project.
What an awesome experience. Are the results of that research published anywhere?
The gentleman who I was working for died, and his family had no interest in it.
Think they just threw out all that work.
He was going to write one book about how the Code Talkers were treated in the
service, and lack of promotions, the second book full of their bios.
A great loss to all.
True heroes of the war. They were not afraid of anything. Resourceful, soundless, easily hidden,, lived off the land, incredibly brave and fought till death if necessary.
They were the greatest addition to the war effort ever.
How true of words spoken.