How when and where did the Navajo codetalkers participate in World War 2?

Answer 1

This is one of my favorite subjects. Thanks! The U.S. had their codes cracked quite easily so they had to come up with a more effective code. In 1942 Philip Johnston thought of a code that was unbreakable to the enemy. A code based on the Navajo language. Johnston headed to Camp Elliot (near San Diego) and presented his idea for a code to Lt. Col. James E. Jones, the Area Signal Officer. 29 Navajos were trained, 2 remained behind to become instructors for future code talkers and the other 27 were sent to Guadalcanal to use the new code in combat. The program was of great success. There were 50,000 in the entire Navajo nation and 420 men worked as code takers. The initial code consisted of translations for 211 English word most frequently used in military conversations (ie: officers/airplanes/months.) The code was explanded by cryptographer Captain Stillwell and 200 words were added and often used letters (A/D/E/I/H/L/N/O/R/S/T/U) were added. Now completed it consisted of 411 terms. The code was never written down, only spoken. The Navajos had to send and receive the code ASAP. The Navajos were met with skeptisism and not treated all that well, but once they proved their worth they were more widely accepted. From 1942-1945 Navajo code talkers participated in numerous battles in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima (to mention a few.) It is also of interest that these Navajo talkers realized that if captured by the enemy they were to die to keep the code secret, even if it meant being killed by one of their own. Hope this has helped. Marcy B. McBrain