In the annals of World War II history, countless stories of heroism and innovation abound, but perhaps none are as remarkable as that of the Navajo Code Talkers. These Native American heroes not only played a crucial role in the Allied victory in the Pacific theater, but they also developed what remains the only unbroken code in modern military history.
During World War II, the United States was in desperate need of a secure method to communicate military strategies without fear of enemy interception. The stakes were unimaginably high, with every word sent over radio waves carrying the potential to alter the course of battles and, by extension, the war itself. The solution to this problem came in the form of an ancient language spoken by a small, tight-knit community within the United States—the Navajo.
The idea to use the Navajo language as the foundation for an unbreakable code was the brainchild of Philip Johnston, a non-Native who had grown up on the Navajo reservation and was fluent in the language. Recognizing the language’s unique qualities—unwritten, incredibly complex, and known by very few outside the Navajo Nation—Johnston convinced the Marine Corps to give his idea a try. Despite initial skepticism due to prior exposure of other Native languages during World War I, the Marines agreed to a pilot project.
In May 1942, the first group of 29 Navajo recruits arrived at Camp Elliott near San Diego. These young men, many of whom had never left the reservation, were tasked with developing a code that would become one of the most significant tools in the U.S. military’s arsenal. They began by assigning Navajo words to various military terms and implements of war. For instance, birds became code names for different types of planes, and the Navajo word for “turtle” represented a tank. To further complicate the code and ensure its security, they also developed an alphabet system where each letter of the English alphabet corresponded to a Navajo word, making the code nearly impossible to crack.
The code was put to the test under the watchful eyes of a skeptical lieutenant. In just two and a half minutes, the Navajo Code Talkers successfully translated, transmitted, and re-translated a test message—an extraordinary feat that typically took soldiers hours to complete without the code. Impressed by the efficiency and security of the code, the Marine Corps began deploying Navajo Code Talkers in every major operation in the Pacific theater.
Their work was nothing short of heroic. During the grueling Battle of Iwo Jima, for example, six Navajo Code Talkers sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. Major Howard Connor, the signal officer in charge at Iwo Jima, later remarked, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”
Despite their critical role in the war, the contributions of the Navajo Code Talkers remained classified for decades. It wasn’t until 1968 that their work was declassified and their story could be told. In the years that followed, the Navajo Code Talkers began to receive the recognition they so richly deserved. President Ronald Reagan declared August 14 as “Navajo Code Talkers Day” in 1982, and in 2001, President George W. Bush presented the original 29 Code Talkers with the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
