Navajo Code Talkers

Tiger Wu

Individual Paper

Junior Division

Research Paper: 1758 Words

Process Paper: 477 words

My topic is Navajo code talkers. I learned about Navajo code talkers when I was reading

a book. I found this very interesting how Native Americans would use their unique language to

send secret messages through radios. I decided to do more research on the topic “Navajo code

talkers”. I heard that the topic for this year’s NHD was communication in history, so I used

Navajo code talkers as my topic. The idea kind of just came off the top of my head. I just wanted

to show the importance of code talkers and the idea of transmitting codes without the enemy

knowing what you’re trying to say.

After I decided to use Navajo code talkers as my topic, I started to look on the internet for

information. I also used the book I read as a reference. I used some websites and some interviews

with former Navajo code talkers as well. I also found some interesting things like the newspaper

that was recruiting Navajos as code talkers. One of the problems that I faced when I was

researching was to look for reliable sources that weren’t biased. I looked at a lot of sources and

narrowed them down to 10. I looked at interviews with Navajo code talkers and checked if what

my sources were saying was true.

I chose to write a historical paper because I thought that I could give a lot of information

and detail without any special gadgets. I feel like writing is the best way to provide information.

When I write, I can use different words or different punctuation marks to express different

feelings. Unlike posters or websites that have pictures and less words, my paper allows me to go

into detail about each subject and send the correct information to the reader. Pictures might cause

some people to misinterpret the message and cause some misunderstanding. I could write things

like how Navajos treated, what it took to become a Navajo code talker, or how they sent codes.

Things like this can’t be shown with pictures.

radios to transmit secret messages using codes. The U.S. used Native Americans as code talkers

since World War 1. The Navajo people were most effective because of their unique language.

The Navajo language could only be spoken fluently and understood by Navajo people. Other

Native American languages could be learned by other people, but not the Navajo language.

Navajo Code talkers were crucial to the U.S. because, during a war, the U.S. needed a way to

communicate with their peers. Sometimes, they needed to talk about strategies and other

classified things. If they didn’t want the enemy to know their strategies, they needed a way to

communicate without the enemy knowing what their strategies and classified information was.
 Have you ever wondered what would happen if the U.S. had lost World War II? Well,

lucky for the U.S., they don’t have to worry about that possibility thanks to a special group of

people: Navajo Code Talkers. Their existence shaped our history today. Code talkers were

mainly Native Americans who served in the Navy to send secret messages through radios.

Among this group of Native Americans were the Navajo. The Navajo language could only be

spoken and understood by Navajos, so no one could crack the code. The U.S. might have lost

World War II without Navajo code talkers because Navajo code talkers provided a “fast, secure,

and error-free line of communication”. Their language couldn’t be fluently spoken or understood

by anyone but Navajo people1, and their ability to adapt to extreme circumstances. 2

Communication during war is crucial. A country needs to communicate in order to know

what is going on within each army. Communications can decide the outcome of a war.3

Sometimes, countries need to send secret messages like battle plans or tactics. This is where code

talking is needed. Secrecy was the main task in code talking. Being a code talker is to be able to

send secret messages that the enemy can’t understand or know what they were talking about4. In

order for the enemy to not know these secret messages, the U.S. needed to find something that

the enemy couldn’t understand. This was where Navajo code talkers came in. Their language

1
Silversmith, Shondiin. “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral.
January 31, 2020. November 30, 2020.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2018/07/11/navajo-code-talker-facts-unbreakable-code/4602620
02/.
2
Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2005)
3
Warcat, Author. “Communications” Military Science Fiction. July 29, 2015. 1/28/2021.
www.milsf.com/communications/#:~:text=The%20ability%20to%20receive%20and,difference%
20between%20victory%20or%20defeat.&text=Communication%20allows%20you%20to%20dir
ect,and%20devise%20a%20counter%20strategy.
4
Central Intelligence Agency. “Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code” CIA. November 16, 2016.
11/30/2020.
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/navajo-code-talkers/index
.html.
was good enough to get the enemy heads spiraling. But to make their code even more secure,

they found a unique way to transmit messages so that the enemy couldn’t understand their

pattern or what they were talking about. Not only was secrecy needed, accuracy was also

important. Even if someone can send a code so hard that no one can crack, if they send the

wrong message, it could be useless and could completely turn the tide during a war.

Up until today, the Japanese still can’t figure out what the U.S. were talking about

through the radios. The Navajo code talkers used a unique way to communicate so that even if

the enemy understood their language, which they didn’t, couldn’t crack their code. Their success

rate was one of the key reasons why the Navajo people were chosen to be code talkers.5 During

the war, they would use a word's first letter to spell out another word. They would use words like

apple, bear, cat, deer, etc. Even after memorizing more than 400 vocabulary terms, they still

provided an error-free line of communication.6 After going through intense training, the first 29

Navajo code talkers were sent to Guadalcanal on their first mission.7 This was the first time the

world had a taste of the unbreakable code. After the first 29 Navajo code talkers proved to be

successful and efficient, the U.S. navy started to recruit more and more Navajo people. They

were trained to memorize everything without writing anything down or taking any kind of notes

that would reveal their code. Even if they did write something down, it had to be destroyed at

night.8 During the battle of Iwo Jima, they transmitted more than 800 messages.9 Captain Ralph

J. Sturkey said that the Navajo code was “the simplest, fastest, and most reliable means available

to transmit secret orders by radio circuits”10. Another reason how the Navajo code talkers could

5
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
6
Central Intelligence Agency. “Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code” CIA
7
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
8
Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
9
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
10
Jevec, Adam and Lee Ann Potter. “Memorandum Regarding the Enlistment of Navajo Indians”. National
Archives. September 23, 2016. 12/1/2020.
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/code-talkers#page-header.
communicate so efficiently was because of their language ability. There were a lot of Navajo

people back then. There were also a lot of other Native American tribes. To find Native

Americans who could speak both English and their Native language was hard. Luckily, a

majority of Navajo people went to study English. The only requirements for you to enlist as a

Navajo code talker were that you needed to know both English and Navajo, be at least a 16

year-old male, and be in perfectly good shape.11 This broadened the searching radius, thus

allowing more Navajo people to enlist. This was one of the reasons why Navajo code talkers

were so effective.

Being a code talker was one thing, but having an unbreakable code is another. The

Navajo language was so sacred, no one can understand Navajo or speak the language fluently

unless they are Navajo people. Their language was “a code that was never broken by the

Japanese”12. Before Navajo people became code talkers, Choctaws were the only Native

American tribe to serve in the Navy as code talkers. They were very effective during World War

1, as no one could understand their native language. But after the war, a lot of countries started to

send students to the U.S. in order to learn Native American languages. This limited the U.S.’s

ability to use Native Americans because a lot of the enemies already knew Native American

languages. So during World War II, a lot of the Native American codes were cracked by the

enemy, thus exposing their plans to the enemy. Philip Johnston, the man behind the enlistment of

Navajo code talkers, had been in the Navajo reservation since he was a child. His father was a

missionary, so he basically grew up with the Navajo people. This allowed him to be very close to

the people living there. He was really familiar with their distinctive language, their culture, and

their way of living. When he heard that the U.S. Navy needed code talkers to transmit an

11
Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
12
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
unbreakable code, he suggested that they use Navajo people. After a demonstration, the Navy

approved of the idea and ordered Philip Johnston to be in charge of enlisting Navajo code

talkers.13 Major Howard Connor said, “Iwo Jima would never have been taken if it weren’t for

the Navajo code talkers.”14 All of the Navajo recruits were sent to the Pacific to mainly fight

Japan. There were battles at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Saipan, Okinawa, and more. The U.S. won

all of the battles and stopped Japan thanks to the Navajo code talkers. 15

“Be strong. Have a strong heart, have a strong mind, have a strong body. Make yourself

physically strong, mentally strong, and spiritually strong. You can do anything.” These were the

words of former Navajo code talker, Peter MacDonald. He was one of the first 29 Navajo code

talkers to be sent to the Pacific.16 Being physically strong was important in the Navy no matter

what your role was. Being able to adapt to the extreme conditions in the Pacific was very hard.

According to the book Code Talkers, almost everyone in the Navy was bigger and stronger than

the Navajo code talkers. But when they were back on mainland U.S., every time they had an

intense drill like crossing the desert, the Navajo people would always be better than the other

marines. This was because of their ability to adapt to the extreme conditions. Navajo people had

lived in the wilderness for a long time. They knew a lot of survival skills to help them survive

and adapt to the extreme conditions in the Pacific. When they got to the Pacific, they would use

the natural resources there to build themselves tools or equipment. Sometimes they would even

hunt there because they didn’t want the “navy food”. An example found in the book, Code

Talkers, happened when they were crossing the desert as a training. They only had one bottle of

water. They had to cross the entire desert which would take about a day. The Navajo people used

13
Central Intelligence Agency. “Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code” CIA
14
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
15
Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
16
Peter MacDonald, oral interview by the author. April 7, 2014.
their knowledge of the wilderness to outsmart their superiors and fellow marines. They would

cut cactus and suck the meat which had water. They would cut pieces of cactus and keep it in

their bags. They would eat them when they were thirsty. When they got to the end of the desert,

they were the only ones who walked to the end. Even the squad leader was so tired that he

couldn’t make it out. Their knowledge and endurance helped them survive in the extreme

conditions and allowed them to keep going under the constriction of fatigue. 17This was

important because during their time at Guadalcanal, the circumstances were harsh. Life on

Guadalcanal was never easy. There were a lot of diseases and sometimes supplies would be cut

off. The Navajo code talkers’ ability to adapt to these circumstances helped them survive through

the severe conditions.18

In conclusion, the world would’ve been a different place if it weren’t for Navajo code

talkers. They created an unbreakable code, found a unique way of sending them, and used their

knowledge of the wilderness to help the U.S. win World War II, but their service was not

awarded until 1982 when President Reagan declared August 14 as National Code Talker Day.19

When they got back from the Pacific, they were not allowed to talk about their role and what

they did. There were no parades or celebrations, but they did get a certification that said they

served in the Marines.20 Their impact can be seen all around the world. If it weren’t for Navajo

code talkers, the world might still see the face of Adolf Hitler. If it weren’t for Navajo code

talkers, the entire Pacific might’ve been Japan’s territory. They didn’t just help the U.S. win the

war, they created what we call “history” today. They created what every student on earth is

17
Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
18
Paridon, Seth. “Life on Guadalcanal: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum |
New Orleans, 7 Oct. 2017, 2/3/2021.
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/life-guadalcanal#:~:text=Tropical%20diseases%2C%20of%20which%2
0malaria,men%20ashore%20were%20Japanese%20bombardments.
19
Silversmith Shodiin, “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World War II.” azcentral
20
Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
learning today. Code talkers played a pivotal role in communication. They completely changed

the way people communicate and their way of communicating changed the entire course of

history. Without Navajo code talkers, we wouldn’t be in a peaceful world today. We owe all the

Navajo code talkers a big thank you.

Primary Source:

MacDonald, Peter. Oral interview. April 7, 2014

Peter, a former Navajo Code Talker, talks about the difficulties of being a Native

American back then, what it took to become a code talker, and the hardships during the war.

Navajos didn’t really celebrate their birthdays back then. When Peter went to register as a code

talker, the officials gave them a new name, birthday, and a whole new identity. Some Native

Americans go to boarding schools to learn English. This allowed them to register as a code

talker. “Be strong. Have a strong heart, have a strong mind, have a strong body. Make yourself

physically strong, mentally strong, and spiritually strong. You can do anything.” These were the

words Peter’s general told him. Being a Native American in the army, people would look down

at you like second-rated beings. Code talkers had to be in the front line of the war, so being a

code talker was just as dangerous as any other soldier. I looked up “Navajo code talker

interview” and found this source. I think this interview might be my best source because Peter

was a Navajo code talker who is currently the Navajo tribal chairman and four term chairman of

the Navajo tribe.

Secondary Source:

Bruchac, Joseph. “Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two.” Montana:

Montana Office of Public Instruction, 2005.

This story uses a fictional character, Ned Begay, to talk about the life of a Navajo code

talker. At the age of 8, Ned goes to a school where he has to learn English specially designed for

Navajos. When he was 14, he saw on the newspaper that Navajos at the age of 16 could enlist to
be a code talker for the U.S.. Although Ned was only 14, his parents approved for him to join the

Navy. He goes to Camp Elliot and begins the process of becoming a code talker. When he finally

finishes his harsh training, he goes to the Navy and is deported to Japan. He meets some old

friends and they regroup. After the war was finished Ned went back to the U.S. and continued his

studies. The story talks a lot about how Native Americans were treated and how Ned went

through some harsh times. When he was just an ordinary Native American boy, he wasn’t

allowed to go to the local bar to get a drink. But when he came back from the war wearing his

navy uniform, people let him into the bar and said, “Thank you for your service, sir.” I had

borrowed the book from a library before I knew about NHD. When I was almost finished with

the book, I was told that this year’s topic was communication in history, so I decided to use

Navajo code talkers as my topic. I used an online book after I returned the book.

Secondary Source:

Central Intelligence Agency. “Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code” CIA. November

16, 2016. 11/30/2020.

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/navaj

o-code-talkers/index.html.

Philip Johnston was the first to discover this unbreakable code. He proposed the idea to

enlist Navajos as code talkers. The Navajos were mainly sent to the Pacific to fight Japan. The

first group of Navajos developed the code. They made it unbreakable by breaking words down

into alphabets and sending them one by one. The Navajos were treated like fellow Americans

when they were in the Navy, a reason why some Navajos wanted to join the marines. I found this
source online while I was researching. I would look at the interview to check if what this article

was saying was true.

Secondary Source:

Silversmith, Shondiin. “Navajo Code Talkers created an unbreakable code. It helped win World

War II.” azcentral. January 31, 2020. November 30, 2020.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2018/07/11/navajo-code-talker-facts-unbrea

kable-code/460262002/.

Philip Johnston started recruiting Navajos because of their unbreakable code. The code

was Navajo words that were translated into English. The first letter of that word would be the

letter that was part of another word which was a code. There were 411 vocabulary words in total.

The first 29 Navajos were the first to go through the intense training to become a code talker.

They were awarded in 2001 for the Congressional Gold Medal. Currently, there are about 350 to

420 Navajo code talkers still alive. The Navajos were so effective because their language could

only be spoken and understood by Navajos. In 1982, President Reagan declared August 14 as

National Code Talker Day to pay tribute to code talkers. I found this source while I was surfing

the internet. I found this to be useful because it had all the highlights of my other sources.

Secondary Source:

Javec, Adam, and Lee Ann Potter. “Memorandum Regarding the Enlistment of Navajo Indians”

National Archives. September 23, 2016. 12/1/2020.

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/code-talkers.
 During WW2, the U.S. and other countries had to find a way to transmit secret messages

without having the enemy know the secret message. This is why the U.S. decided to use Navajos

during WW2. Philip Johnston, the man who was in charge to enlist Navajos and train them as

messengers, said, “Indian Jargon won our battles.” Johnston was to one who proposed the idea of

using Navajos as code talkers. He convinced the general by speaking a few words to the

confused man. The general gave Johnston the permission to try out Navajos as code talkers.

Johnston thought that the Navajos would be the perfect code talkers for two reasons. First,

because they had an unbreakable code. Their language could only be fluently spoken and

understood by Navajos. Second, because they had the most population out of all Native

American tribes. After Johnston demonstrated the Navajos efficiency and their accuracy of

transmitting codes, the general sent a letter to the board recommending to use them as code

talkers. Even though the general’s letter convinced the board to use Navajos, the U.S. couldn’t

find enough recruits. The recruits needed to be 16 years old or older and had to speak both

English and Navajo fluently. A lot of the Navajos couldn’t speak fluent English. The proposal for

using Navajos was accepted and the Navajos were trained in Camp Elliot. The Navajos would

use a word’s first letter as a letter and spell out the entire word. For example ant would be A.

There were 411 vocabulary words in total. I found this source on the internet. I used this source

to explain how Navajo code talkers used their unbreakable code to help win the battles in the

Pacific.

Secondary Source:

Warcat, Author: “Communications.” Military Science Fiction, 29 July 2015, 1/28/2021.

www.milsf.com/communications/#:~:text=The%20ability%20to%20receive%20and,difference%
20between%20victory%20or%20defeat.&text=Communication%20allows%20you%20to%20dir

ect,and%20devise%20a%20counter%20strategy.

This source talks about how important communication is during a war. Communications

can decide victory or defeat. A country could intercept another’s messages and know what they

are up to. On the other hand, a country needed to be able to transmit information without having

the enemy know or understand it.

Secondary Source:

Paridon, Seth. “Life on Guadalcanal: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The

National WWII Museum | New Orleans, 7 Oct. 2017,

www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/life-guadalcanal#:~:text=Tropical%20diseases%2C

%20of%20which%20malaria,men%20ashore%20were%20Japanese%20bombardments.