Navajo Code Talkers

The Navajo code talkers were Navajo servicemen who used their native language as code during WWII. Philip Johnston, who spoke Navajo fluently, proposed the idea since very few outside the Navajo nation could understand the unwritten language. In 1942, the US Marines recruited over 200 Navajo men who developed a code dictionary. The Navajo code talkers transmitted vital messages during battles like Iwo Jima and their unbreakable code is credited with helping the US win the war in the Pacific. They were later honored for their service.