Code Talkers
Navajo Heroes in the Pacific Theatre
Code Talkers in WWI
Secure communication channels are vital to
success in any war
Telephone and 2-way radio first used in
battle
At the battles of St. Etienne and Forest
Ferme France Choctaw language used to
coordinate assault on German forces
10/27/1918
Code Talkers in WWI
Toward the end of the war U.S. Army
recruited Cherokee, Comanche, Cheyenne,
and Osage as Code Talkers
-Used native language but did not write code
words
The Navajo in WWII
Before U.S.entry into WWII the Navajo Tribal
Council declared:
The Navajo Nation will “aid and defend our
Government and its institutions against all
armed conflict.”
Code Talkers in WWII
In 1940 The U.S. Army recruited 17
Comanches as Code Talkers
-Never used as extensively as Navajo
-Primarily in Africa and Europe
In 1941 The U.S. Marines recruited 29 Navajo
men for special training program
-Highly Classified program
Unbreakable Military Code
Philip Johnston (Son of Missionaries)
-Grew up speaking “trader” Navajo
Conceived idea to use Navajo language
-<50 people outside reservation knew full language
-Tonal language -words change meaning based on pitch
-No written language and unstudied
Johnston first approached Maj. General Clayton B. Vogel
-Had considered use of Indian language before contact
Demonstration
Vogel accepts Johnston’s proposal
-First demonstration 2/28/1942
-4 Navajo men who spoke English and
Navajo fluently picked for assignment
-after a brief period used to work out words
with no Navajo equivalent the men
transmitted the test message flawlessly
Navajo Talkers in Training
The first 29 went through boot camp without
knowing what their “special assignment”
would be.
All of the Navajo recruits complete boot
camp
-Other recruits had a ~10% dropout rate
Their endurance created a Native Mystique
and they suffered little prejudice at camp
June 27,
1942
The First 29
After Basic Training
Developed original
Code
211 Military terms
needed equivalents
and A-Z alphabet
To complete the task:
1. Construct alphabet
2. Choose accurate
equivalents
3. Short terms for rapid
transmission
4. Memorize all terms
Letter Navajo
Meaning
Letter
Navajo
Meaning
A
Wol-la-chee
Ant
N
Nesh-chee
Nut
B
Shush
Bear
O
Ne-ahs-jah
Owl
C
Moasi
Cat
P
Bi-sodih
Pig
D
Be
Deer
Q
Ca-yeilth
Quiver
E
Dzeh
Elk
R
Gah
Rabbit
F
Ma-e
Fox
S
Dibeh
Sheep
G
Klizzie
Goat
T
Than-zie
Turkey
H
Lin
Horse
U
No-da-ih
Ute
I
Tkin
Ice
V
A-keh-di-glini
Victor
J
Tkele-cho-gi
Jackass
W
Gloe-ih
Weasel
K
Klizzie-Yazzie
Kidd
X
Al-an-as-dzoh
Cross
L
Dibeh-Yazzie
Lamb
Y
Tsah-as-zih
Yucca
M
Na-as-tsosi
Mouse
Z
Besh-do-gliz
Zinc
See if you can translate the following coded message:
Letter
Navajo word
English word
C
MOASI
Cat
D
LHA-CHA-EH
DOG
MOASI NE-AHS-JAH LHA-
E
DZEH
Elk
CHA-EH DZEH GAH DZEH
I
TKIN
Ice
MOASI DZEH TKIN A-KEH-
O
NE-AHS-JAH
Owl
DI-GLINI DZEH LHA-CHA-EH
R
GAH
Rabbit
V
A-KEH-DI-GLINI
Victor
See if you can translate the following coded message:
Letter
Navajo word
English word
C
MOASI
Cat
D
LHA-CHA-EH
DOG
E
DZEH
Elk
I
TKIN
Ice
O
NE-AHS-JAH
Owl
R
GAH
Rabbit
V
A-KEH-DI-GLINI
Victor
MOASI NE-AHS-JAH LHACHA-EH DZEH GAH DZEH
MOASI DZEH TKIN A-KEH-
DI-GLINI DZEH LHA-CHA-EH
= Code Received
Code Talkers in the Pacific Theatre
First saw limited use at Guadalcanal
-Commanders unsure how to use
-Compete with machine sent code
message in 2.5 minutes.
-machine took 2 hours
-became a decisive advantage
-Marines decide to recruit more Navajo
Further use of the Code
Code expanded every year of the war
-By the end >620 code words in vocabulary
At wars end over 550 Navajos had become
Code Talkers
These men had created the only unbroken
oral code in the history of warfare
Other Islands taken using Code Talk
-Bouganville 11/1-12/26/43 Op. Cartwheel
-New Britain 12/26-1/14/44 Op. Dexterity
-Mariana Islands: Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu
6/11-10/12/44 Ops. Forager and Stevedore
-Iwo Jima 2/19/45-3/16/45 Op. Detachment
-Okinawa 4/1/45-6/22/45 Op. Iceberg
Iwo Jima 660 mi S of Japan
Extremely long, difficult, deadly
battle
-150 pill box guns, 16 mi of defensive
tunnels ~800 defensive positions
Japanese Commander,“Each man will
make it his duty to kill ten of the
enemy before dying.”
Code Talkers used exclusively for ship
to shore communication
Iwo Jima
Major General Howard Conner, “During the first 48
hours… they sent and received over 800 messages
without error.”
-Day 5 American flag raised over Mount Suribachi
-news relayed to command by Talker Teddy Draper
-cost 895 lives including 3 Talkers
It took another 20 days to secure the rest of Iwo Jima
-6,821 Americans died at Iwo Jima
-of ~22,000 defenders only 1,083 surrendered
Okinawa 325 mi. S of Japan
Defended by over 100,000
Japanese
-180,00 troops attack
-Most deadly and
prolonged battle in the
south Pacific after
Guadalcanal
-logistics coordinated
almost exclusively by
Talkers
At Wars End
After Hiroshima and Nagasaki Code
talkers used to send classified
scientific info about bomb to U.S.
The Code was classified until 1968
Code Talkers first honored at Marine
reunion in Chicago 1969
“If the JIIT could have decoded the
Navajo messages...the history of the
Pacific War might have turned out
completely different.” Fuji Evening Newspaper