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Most were in their late teens or early twenties, many were 17 or 18. A few were younger and lied to get in. To be in the Marines you had to be 17. Most had been in boarding school which is were they learned English. Most, since they had been 7 or 8. They were punished for speaking Navajo. What was important in selecting the participants was not their age, but, of course, their ability to speak and understand Navajo and English fluently and the ability to learn, memorize and use the code rapidly and accurately. The 1940 census records have just been made public so you could check about most of them if you know their home town.
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∙ 9y ago
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∙ 9y agoThe 29 original ones developed the code with Philip Johnston (a son of missionaries and Navajo speaker) at the Marine base in Oceanside California in 1942. 400 were trained in and used the code in the war in the Pacific against Japan and in the Occupation and some in the Korean War. Of those, the last of the first 29 died in 2014 and 35 of the others remain alive.
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∙ 9y agoThey learned Navajo at home. Most entered school with little or no English. Many were punished in school for speaking Navajo. English and Navajo are from such very different language families that it makes it hard to learn the other. When they enlisted in the Army they were bilingual. They then went to Camp Pendleton in California to develop the code using Navajo as the base.
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∙ 10y agoThe first 29 Navajo recruits went to boot camp at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California in May 1942. This first group then created the Navajo code. The idea was from Philip Johnston who was the son of a missionary and fluent in Navajo. He proposed it at the start of the war and proved the concept in early 1942.
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∙ 9y agoChester Nez the last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers died today, June 4th, 2014, at age 93.
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∙ 16y agoThe first Navajo code talkers were used on Guadalcanel in 1942. The first known use of US Native code talkers (Cherokees) was in WWI during the Battle of the Somme.
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∙ 14y agoWhat_were_the_orginal_29_Navajo_Code_Talkers
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∙ 9y agoWiki User
∙ 10y agoThe Navajo code talkers were used on the battle field in World War II to send voice messages between American units because the Germans could not understand them.
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Were women in the Navajo codetalker?
The Navajo Code Talker program was run by the US Marines. In WWII women were not allowed to join the Marines. The code used Navajo as a base but was encoded in that so a Navajo speaker could not understand it and would need to memorize the secret code to use it.
Is code talker a movie?
You may be thinking of "Windtalkers" (2002). Stars Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo. It's about Navajo marines who use their language as a radio code.
How did the Navajo nation code talker influence the war?
The use of Navajo Nation code talkers greatly influenced the outcome of World War 2. The Navajo Nation's language was undecipherable by the enemies of the U.S. This allowed U.S. military forces to carry out combat missions without the enemy knowing about them.
Why did the Navajos choose owl for a spy plane in their language?
The Navajo word for owl is: Néʼéshjaaʼ. They used bird words in the substitution code for airplanes. Bird in Navajo is Tsídii In his book about being a Code Talker and the war, Chester Nez, one of the first group pf Code Talkers, writes about how they invented the code. In general, they made up most of the code on a on a base in San Diego. First, they started with alphabet substitution as the base of the code. They wanted a code that code be used easily, quickly and was never written down so it could not be captured. They assigned about three options of Navajo words to each letter so they could mix it up. Example might be: B- b stands for bear, bear in Navajo is Shash. C- c stands for cow, cow in Navajo is beegashi, G- g stands for goat, goat is Navajo is tł'ízí . [note this is the standardized spelling used today with tone marks, it those days there was not a standard spelling system]. Then, they chose two more options for each letter. Later, to speed it up, they added code words for common military nouns. Just so they could remember and learn it easily they assigned fish words for ships and bird words for airplanes, etc.My teacher who had been a code talker said if they got stuck they would talk a break, go outside, have a smoke and come up with a good one. The point was that even to a Navajo speaker it would sound like a long list of meaningless Navajo words with little pattern. But it had to be easy to remember so they didn't need a code book and it could be done very accurately and rapidly. A radio operator using standard code books at the time took about ten times longer about 30 minute vs 3 minutes for a short passage, and the codes were often broken. Nez does not speak about the word owl in particular but it would have been because it was a bird and perhaps the silent owl association. Or their listening ability. It is also possible that because the Navajo word for ears is -jaa, they and the name for owl seems like a reference to the ear tufts some owls have that that was the association. They did not usually use cultural meanings in particular. Owls can sometimes be seen as helpers of Navajo witches or skin walkers in disguise but that is not why they used it for the spy plane is my guess. It was just easy to remember.Remember, the main point was it be fast and easy to remember and not need to be written down and hard to break. Another aspect was that, for the Japanese, it was very hard to even transcribe and impossible to reproduce and fake because Japanese has very few of the standard Navajo consonants and Navajo is tonal and Japaneses is not. This made it hard to even hear the sounds let alone write them or copy them. They did suspect it was Navajo based and they did capture a Navajo soldier who was not a Code Talker. He told them it was a string of nonsense, which it was. They then tortured him so they got no more information after that.
Why were the Navajos selected to be code talkers?
Navaho Code Talkers were used to send and receive secret radio comunications that the U.S. didn't want the enemy to intercept and understand. Without the code talkers messages had to be communicated by either by voice -- in English (which the enemy could easily translate) or they had to be sent by code (which took some time to code on the sending end and decode on the receiving end -- TOO much time in heated action.) Since the Navaho spoken language was understood ONLY by a limited number of trained Navahos a Code Talker could send a message in his own language talking to a Code Talker on the receiving end of the communication. Immediately the Code Talker on the receiving end could translate his language into English for American officers or soldiers directing the battle action. Believe me .... made for fast communications and speeded things up considerably. vcs
Were women in the Navajo codetalker?
The Navajo Code Talker program was run by the US Marines. In WWII women were not allowed to join the Marines. The code used Navajo as a base but was encoded in that so a Navajo speaker could not understand it and would need to memorize the secret code to use it.
Why was there a need to assign bodyguards to the Navajo Code Talkers?
The "bodyguards" for the Navajo Code Talkers had the responsibility to see that they never fell into Japanese hands. This responsibility was handled in two ways:protect the Navajo Code Talker during battlekill the Navajo Code Talker if he was captured or was about to be captured by Japanese (the Navajo Code Talkers were never informed of this)Effectively the US Military treated the Navajo Code Talkers as they would any other classified high security cypher machine they might use to send and receive secret messages. If you were responsible for a cypher machine your responsibilities for handling the machine were identical: protect it from the enemy in battle and destroy it should there be a chance of the enemy capturing it.
Is code talker a movie?
You may be thinking of "Windtalkers" (2002). Stars Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo. It's about Navajo marines who use their language as a radio code.
What was the code they spoke in world war 2?
I believe you are referring to the Navajo Code Talkers. The Navajos were recruited to use their language to speak in code and sent Morse code in the Navajo Code. The Japanese could not recognize the language.
Are the Navajo secret codes still in use today?
No, the sole purpose was to create a code that the Japanese could not break. Once WW2 ended there was no further use for it. The Japanese were very good at breaking our codes, but when you used a "book code" with words of another language that they did not know it stymied them. The Navajo Code Talkers did not speak ordinary Navajo in their messages, they translated the messages to Navajo then encoded it using the memorized "book code" and spoke those Navajo words. Even when the Japanese had captured Navajo soldiers (who of course had no code talking training), they could recognize the words but the message was gibberish.
How did the Navajo people help the country during the war?
The Navajo were recruited to serve in the military to help create a Navajo code and used it to confuse the Japanese. They were called the Navajo Code Talkers and a few are still alive. They finally received medals from the President. Only the Navajo could use and fully understand the code. Some of the upper military leaders learned some of it as it was created and they taught the Navajos how to send and receive code.
What was the primary duty of the Navajo code talkers during World War 2?
The primary duty of the Navajo Code Talkers was to use their language to communicate with the commanders and the troops and Naval Ships. Their language was not all in written form and they did not have words like bomb, ship, ammunition, etc. They used words that would describe something: for example bird for plane or eagle for bomber (made up since the code is classified still and used still). They were also fighters and Morse code senders on radios. They used many forms of radios. There was a Choctaw Code in World War 1 and that is where they got the idea to use the Navajo language since the Japanese could not understand it.
How did the Navajo nation code talker influence the war?
The use of Navajo Nation code talkers greatly influenced the outcome of World War 2. The Navajo Nation's language was undecipherable by the enemies of the U.S. This allowed U.S. military forces to carry out combat missions without the enemy knowing about them.
How effective were the code talkers?
Very effective, Navajo Indians were used to rely information over the air. They did not use a code but rather their native language.
Can you make the roger troutman sound with a digitech talker?
Yes you can, the key is to use the Digitech Talker with the proper sending input synth sound, and put the talker on (Nuvo) or (Talk Box) and pracktice.
Did the Japanese able to break the code of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War 2?
The Japanese never broke the Navajo Code Talkers code. We Americans and other allied forces would like to thank the Navajo tribe and other tribes for allowing us to use their patriotic American Natives and for the use of their languages. We know it was a major part of the victory of the Allied Forces and in World War 1, the Korean War and in the Vietnamese War. Thanks for using answers com and wikianswers.
Why did the Navajos choose owl for a spy plane in their language?
The Navajo word for owl is: Néʼéshjaaʼ. They used bird words in the substitution code for airplanes. Bird in Navajo is Tsídii In his book about being a Code Talker and the war, Chester Nez, one of the first group pf Code Talkers, writes about how they invented the code. In general, they made up most of the code on a on a base in San Diego. First, they started with alphabet substitution as the base of the code. They wanted a code that code be used easily, quickly and was never written down so it could not be captured. They assigned about three options of Navajo words to each letter so they could mix it up. Example might be: B- b stands for bear, bear in Navajo is Shash. C- c stands for cow, cow in Navajo is beegashi, G- g stands for goat, goat is Navajo is tł'ízí . [note this is the standardized spelling used today with tone marks, it those days there was not a standard spelling system]. Then, they chose two more options for each letter. Later, to speed it up, they added code words for common military nouns. Just so they could remember and learn it easily they assigned fish words for ships and bird words for airplanes, etc.My teacher who had been a code talker said if they got stuck they would talk a break, go outside, have a smoke and come up with a good one. The point was that even to a Navajo speaker it would sound like a long list of meaningless Navajo words with little pattern. But it had to be easy to remember so they didn't need a code book and it could be done very accurately and rapidly. A radio operator using standard code books at the time took about ten times longer about 30 minute vs 3 minutes for a short passage, and the codes were often broken. Nez does not speak about the word owl in particular but it would have been because it was a bird and perhaps the silent owl association. Or their listening ability. It is also possible that because the Navajo word for ears is -jaa, they and the name for owl seems like a reference to the ear tufts some owls have that that was the association. They did not usually use cultural meanings in particular. Owls can sometimes be seen as helpers of Navajo witches or skin walkers in disguise but that is not why they used it for the spy plane is my guess. It was just easy to remember.Remember, the main point was it be fast and easy to remember and not need to be written down and hard to break. Another aspect was that, for the Japanese, it was very hard to even transcribe and impossible to reproduce and fake because Japanese has very few of the standard Navajo consonants and Navajo is tonal and Japaneses is not. This made it hard to even hear the sounds let alone write them or copy them. They did suspect it was Navajo based and they did capture a Navajo soldier who was not a Code Talker. He told them it was a string of nonsense, which it was. They then tortured him so they got no more information after that.
