Navajo Code TalkersOn the Pacific front during World War II, strange messages were picked up by American and Japanese forces on land and at sea. The messages were totally unintelligible to everyone except a small select group within the Marine Corps: the Navajo code talkers-a group of Navajos communicating in a code based on the Navajo language. This code, the first unbreakable one in U.S. history, was a key reason that the Allies were able to win in the Pacific. |
Contents
An Unbreakable Code | 12 |
Creating the Code | 23 |
Earning Trust | 38 |
Life in the War Zone | 52 |
Breaking Japanese Codes | 66 |
IslandHopping | 76 |
The Code Talkers | 88 |
Back Home | 100 |
Notes | 107 |
Map | 116 |
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Common terms and phrases
Allied American forces amphibious army artillery assault assigned attack battle beach Begay belegaana marines Betio bomb bombers break camp campaign captured ceremony chindi cipher code words code-talker program combat command post COURTESY OF NATIONAL cryptogram dead death defenders enemy English equipment fighting fire fought foxhole front lines Guadalcanal Guam headquarters ican Indian intelligence intercepted messages Iwo Jima Japa Japan's Japanese forces Japanese soldiers Johnston jungle Kawano killed knew letter lives Long Walk Marianas Marshall Islands miles NATIONAL ARCHIVES Native Americans Navajo code talkers Navajo language Navajo marine Navajo nation Navajo words naval navy nese never ocean officers Okinawa Pacific war Pearl Harbor protect Purple Code Rabaul radio operators rines runway Saipan secret communication sent ships shot Solomon Islands South Pacific supplies Tarawa target terrain tion translated U.S. forces U.S. Marines U.S. military U.S. troops unbreakable code United wol-la-chee World World War II Yamamoto