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- Navajo Code Talkers Infographic
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What is a code talker?
Code talkers were Native American soldiers who used their native languages to transmit sensitive wartime messages, thus serving as codes. These code talkers enabled the U.S. forces to communicate rapidly via open radio during World War I and World War II, especially in the Pacific theater, because the enemy could not break the code.
The first official use of code talkers was in 1918, when eight Choctaw men used their language during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. During World War II, Philip Johnston suggested using the Navajo language, which lacks an alphabet and has unique syntax, for tactical communication. The Navajo code talkers created code references for military terms, and by the war's end, the Marine Corps had employed 540 Navajos. Other tribes like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Comanche, and Sioux also contributed code talkers.
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Why were code talkers important during wartime?
During wartime, code talkers, especially the Navajo code talkers, were vital because they transmitted sensitive messages in their native languages, which served as unbreakable codes for the U.S. military.
In the Pacific theater of World War II, the Japanese military intercepted and decrypted voiced radio messages, so the U.S. Marine Corps recruited Navajo men to create a secure radio code based on their language. The Navajo language, with no alphabet, unique syntax, and tonal qualities, proved virtually impossible for the Japanese to break. This ensured fast, secure communications, helping to coordinate combat operations and save lives. A message that took 30 minutes to send using older methods could be sent by code talkers in only 20 seconds.
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Which Native American languages were used by code talkers?
During World War I and World War II, the U.S. military employed over 400 Native American soldiers as code talkers, who used their native languages to transmit sensitive wartime messages.
The first use of code talkers was in 1918, when eight Choctaw men used their language during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In World War II, Philip Johnston suggested using the Navajo language, which lacks an alphabet and has unique syntax, for tactical communications. The military also employed code talkers who spoke Assiniboin, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Fox, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Navajo, Ojibwa, Oneida, Osage, Pawnee, Sauk, Seminole, and Sioux.
Navajo code talkers were critical in the Pacific theater, where they maintained battlefield radio contact. By 1945, the Marine Corps had 540 Navajos in service, with 375 to 420 trained as code talkers. In Europe, thirteen Comanche code talkers served with the 4th Infantry Division.
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How did code talkers use their languages to send secret messages?
During World War II, code talkers, primarily Navajo, used their native languages to transmit sensitive wartime messages, providing U.S. forces with fast, secure communications over open radio waves.
The Navajo language, with its unique syntax, tonal qualities, and lack of alphabet, made it virtually impossible for the enemy to decipher. Code talkers devised a code based on word substitution, assigning Navajo words to common military terms. For instance, the Navajo term dah-he-tih-hi (hummingbird) meant "fighter plane". This method allowed them to encode, transmit, and decode messages much faster than traditional encryption.
Other tribes, including Cherokee, Comanche, and Choctaw, also used their languages as codes.
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What role did Navajo code talkers play in World War II?
During World War II, Navajo code talkers played a crucial role in the U.S. war effort in the Pacific theater. The U.S. Marine Corps recruited Navajo men to develop a secure radio code based on their native language, which had no alphabet and unique syntax, making it virtually impossible for the Japanese to break.
These code talkers transmitted sensitive wartime messages over open radio waves, providing U.S. forces with fast and secure communications. By the end of the war, the Marine Corps had employed 540 Navajos for service. Their work was invaluable in coordinating combat operations, and they saved countless lives.
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How did code talking impact the outcome of battles in United States history?
During World War I and World War II, the U.S. military employed over 400 Native American soldiers as code talkers. These soldiers transmitted sensitive wartime messages in their native languages, providing secure and rapid communications that the enemy could not decipher.
The Navajo code talkers played a vital role in the Pacific theater of World War II. The language had no alphabet, and its syntax and tonal qualities were unique, making it virtually impossible for the Japanese to break. A message that once took 30 minutes to send could be transmitted by Navajo code talkers in only 20 seconds. The code talkers' effectiveness in maintaining crucial radio contact on the battlefield significantly contributed to the Allied victory and saved lives.
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code talker, any of more than 400 Native American soldiers—including Assiniboin, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Fox, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Navajo, Ojibwa, Oneida, Osage, Pawnee, Sauk, Seminole, and Sioux men—who transmitted sensitive wartime messages by speaking their native languages, in effect using them as codes. In both World War I and World War II, but especially the latter, the code talkers provided U.S. forces with fast communications over open radio waves, knowing that the enemy was unable to break the code. By all accounts the service of the code talkers was crucial to winning World War II in the Pacific theatre.
The first known official use of code talkers occurred in October 1918, when eight Choctaw men serving in France (who were at the time not citizens of the United States) were put to use as telephone communicators during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The Germans were unable to make sense of the Choctaw language (of Muskogean linguistic stock), which was unique to the North American continent and had a small number of speakers. Although the code talkers had been highly effective, little time remained in the war for this improvisation to be exploited on a larger scale.
During World War II Philip Johnston, who was the son of missionaries to the Navajo and had grown up on a Navajo reservation, proposed to the U.S. Marine Corps that the Navajo language (Athabaskan language family) be exploited for tactical radio and telephone communications. Like almost all Native American languages, Navajo had no alphabet (thus no printed matter that could be helpful to an enemy), and its unique syntax and tonal qualities defied the enemy’s attempts to interpret information being broadcast. Because there were no Navajo words for various military ranks and pieces of equipment, further code references had to be agreed upon. These hybrid terms—such as besh-lo (“iron fish”), meaning “submarine”; dah-he-tih-hi (“hummingbird”), meaning “fighter plane”; and debeh-li-zine (“black street”), meaning “squad”—ultimately grew to a list of more than 400 words, all of which had to be carefully memorized.
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The Marine Corps initiated its employment of the Navajo code talkers with its first cohort of 29 recruits in May 1942. They served in all of the marine divisions and took part in their major campaigns. By the end of the war, the Marine Corps had employed 540 Navajos for service, 375 to 420 of whom were trained as code talkers.
In addition to fighting in the Pacific, the code talkers were employed in the European theatre. Thirteen Comanche code talkers were assigned to the 4th Infantry Division when it landed at Normandy in June 1944. Navajo code talkers continued to be used after World War II. The nature of their work, both during and after the war, delayed public knowledge of their wartime service.
Only in the 1990s, helped by several broadcast documentaries, did the general public learn of the code talkers’ exploits. In 2001 the Navajo veterans received Congressional Gold Medals (the highest honour that Congress can award) for their service. In 2002 the U.S. Congress passed the Code Talkers Recognition Act to honour Sioux, Comanche, and Choctaw code talkers, and a similar act in 2008 further honoured men of other tribes who had used their languages in the wartime service of the United States. More gold medals were awarded in 2013.