2. Philip Johnston
• The idea to first use the Navajo’s in WWII came from
Johnston.
• He was the son of a missionary to the Navajos and he was also
one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language
fluently.
• Johnston was a WWI veteran who new about the military’s
need for a code for WWII that could not be deciphered if
tried.
• He also knew that Native American Languages were used in
WWI to create and send messages.
3. But why the Navajo languauge..
• The Navajo language is an unwritten one with no alphabet or
symbols and was only spoken on Navajo lands in the United
States.
• Its syntax and tonal qualities made it very hard to
comprehend without lots of exposure and practice with the
language.
• It was also said that less than 30 non-Navajo’s could
understand the language when WWII occurred and none were
of Japanese decent.
• Also the Navajo’s themselves could encode, transmit, and
decode a three lined English message in 20 seconds and
machines of the time required at least 30 minutes to perform
the same task.
4. Navajo language is accepted into WWII
• In 1942 Johnston met with Major General
Clayton B. Vogel to try to convince him to use
the language.
• After he was convinced, due to many
extremities of the language Vogel
recommended to the Marines to recruit 200
Navajo’s for the war.
5. Navajo’s attend boot camp
• Soon after in May of 1942, 29 Navajo soldiers
attended boot camp.
• They attended camp at Camp
Pendleton, Oceanside, California.
6. Navajo’s at boot camp
• Here the first group created the Navajo code.
• By doing this they developed a dictionary and
many different words for military terms.
• Before being sent to the Pacific theater, a
Navajo had to memorize the dictionary and
complete his training.
7. Navajo duties in war
• The code talkers’ main job was to send and
receive, information on key military troop
movements, orders, and other important battlefield
situations over telephones and radios.
• They also performed general Marine duties.
8. Iwo Jima
• The code talkers played a key role in the Capture of Iwo Jima.
• The code talkers here transmitted over 800 errorless
messages which helped the Marines capture the island.
• Also the entire operation to capture the island was directed
through orders that the Navajos would receive and send.
• It was said by Major Howard Connor, 5th Marines signal
officer, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never
have taken Iwo Jima.”
9. Japanese input on the code talkers
• It was said that the Japanese were skilled code
breakers.
• The Japanese were never able to brake the
code used by the Navajos.
• However, they were able to decipher the
codes that the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps
used during the war.
10. Facts of the Navajo
• In 1945, about 520 Navajos served in the Marines.
• Around 375-420 of these became code talkers.
• The remaining served in the war in other ways.
• The code talkers were credited with saving countless
number of lives through their work.
• Also the code talkers served in all six Marine divisions
from 1942-1945.
11. Navajo recognition
• On June 28, 1969, the Navajo Code talkers received
formal recognition.
• The Fourth Marine Division honored the code talkers
with medallions commemorating their efforts in the
war.
• Then on July 28, 1982 the President of the United
States signed a measure stating that August 14 was
“National Navajo Code Talkers Day.”
12. Code talkers today
• Today, the remaining Navajo Code Talkers
make their headquarters at the Gallup-
McKinley County Chamber of Commerce.
• The Navajo Code Talker Room is open to the
public to view.
• Exhibits of the code talkers tell fascinating
stories of these veterans and their work.
13. Works Cited
• quot;Cryptology: Navajo Code Talkers in World War II.quot; Naval History and
Heritage Command. 07 May 2009
<http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm>.
• quot;How the Navajo Code Talkers helped win World War II.quot; On the road
travelogue based on editor who explores West in an RV motorhome. 07
May 2009 <http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/codetalkers.html>.
• quot;Military.com Content.quot; Benefiting the US Army, US Navy, US Air
Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard - Military.com. 07 May 2009
<http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=ML_billison_bkp>.
• Navajo Code Talkers. 07 May 2009 <http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/>.
• quot;NAVAJO CODE TALKERS WW2 Native American Warriors History Series
Honoring Indian War Veterans.quot; CALIFORNIA INDIAN EDUCATION CALIE
Educational Tribal Website of Calif Native American Indians Families
Reservation and Urban Communities of North America USA Southern CA.
07 May 2009
<http://www.californiaindianeducation.org/native_american_veterans/na
vajo_code_talkers.html>.
