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The Navajo Code Talkers During World War II

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The Navajo Code Talkers The Navajo Code Talkers performed a role that changed the outcome of World War II. With Britain on the verge of complete destruction due to constant bombings, and with France about to surrender, U.S. intervention was necessary for the greater good of world against fascism of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Navajo Code provided the U.S. with strategic advantage to combat the Axis Powers and aided in numerous victories. While it was not the first of its kind to be used in U.S. army, it left a lasting impression on the history of warfare and the events of the twentieth century. The Navajo code was not the first of its kind to be used in American warfare. Preceding it was the Choctaw code during World War I. The Choctaw …show more content…

In Johnston’s experience in the army, Johnston witnessed directly the advantage Native American languages can provide the U.S. in warfare. He grew up at a Navajo reserve in Kansas while his parents worked there as missionaries. In the course of his childhood, Johnston became fluent in the Navajo language (Wepman). Before enlisting in the army, he even served as an interpreter between the Navajo leaders and President Theodore Roosevelt (Wepman). During World War II, communications between the Allied Powers, France, Britain, and the U.S., was a matter of contention. This issue arose because the Japanese was skilled in cracking codes due to the fact that many soldiers in the Japanese army were educated in the U.S. and were fluent in English to the point where many of them were familiar with colloquial terms and even slang (Wilsont). Due to this dilemma, Johnston proposed the idea of using the Navajo language as code to Lieutenant Colonel Jones. At first, Jones was skeptical since no cipher was completely secure but Johnston’s graphic presentation persuaded Jones to believe otherwise. Initially, the Navajo code was thought by the U.S. army as something temporary, since they thought that in a matter of time, the Japanese would crack the code (Code Talking). This perception, however, proved to be false as the Japanese and their allies, Germany and Italy, were never able to decipher the Navajo Code up until the release of code a quarter century after the end of the

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Secondly, another role of the Code Talkers was to teach other Navajos how to read, write and learn the codes. The article states, “Later, several hundred more Navajos would join the group and learn the secret code.” This meant that the codes could travel along more people and that the Code Talkers could gain more information about the Japanese troops. In summary, Code Talkers in World War II had to deliver messages and teach other Navajos how to read and write

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For instance, the code was based on the Navajo language and this was the languages used to create the code, therefore the code was hard to comprehend. This was hard to figure out because the Navajo language was unwritten back then. The author states, “After basic training in 1942, Nez's platoon was tasked with developing a code, based on the then-unwritten Navajo language.” This proves that the fact that it was in the Navajo language was one of the things that made the code hard to crack. To conclude, there are several reasons the code was hard to crack and the Navajo language was one of

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The Navajo code talkers used their language as a code to send messages on and off the battlefield in WWII. They were used only in the Pacific. Armies had used Native American languages to send messages in WWII, but all of them had been cracked by other countries over the radio. The U.S decided to try the Navajo language. There would be 2 Navajo code talkers on each side of the radio.

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During World War II, United States Marines who fought in the Pacific possessed a powerful weapon that was also unbeatable: Navajo Code Talkers. Creating a secret code, Code Talkers sent and were translating vital military information. Four hundred twenty Navajos memorized the code and it was used by them. It consisted of both common Navajo and there were also about 400 invented words. For example, Code Talkers used the Navajo words for owl, chicken hawk, and swallow to describe different kinds of aircraft.

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Some Codes have saved several lives. The article American Indians in the United States Army Comanche Code Talkers of the 4th Signal Company (U.S. Army Signal Center and Ft. Gordon), it talks about the indian tribes helping armies through secret codes. In the passage Navajo Code Talkers by Andrew Santella, the author explains the extreme process of becoming Marine. The Navajo

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Code Breaking during WWII was very difficult. They made encrypted code by using a Enigma machine. A letter would match up to a number and the number would go down on the paper. To crack the code they would have to match the number to the letter. Codebreaking wasn’t just for the men either.

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At the beginning of Code Talkers, before World War Two, while at mission school, Ned acts as a rebel when people discriminate against him and his culture. While at mission school, Ned and the other Navajos were not allowed to speak Navajo. So instead, “[Ned] learned Navajo songs and stories” “in the basement of the school or out behind the woodshed” (Bruchac 26). They may not have taken over the school, but they did do enough to keep their traditions alive, even when they were trying to be suppressed.

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In the Code Talkers, Ned learns American ways and goes to serve in World War Two by being a Code Talker. In the novel, it shows the ability to find strength and courage through one's culture. The four examples I choose was Ned not wanting to forget his language, doing the Blessingsway ceremony, working hard/not giving up, and learning self-confidence as a marine. When Ned was in boarding school the teachers would punish Navajo children if the spoke Navajo. For some, the punishment was bad enough that it was hard to speak Navajo, but for Ned, it made him not want to forget it.

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His cultural aspects and renewed self-worth are grown by the war and help him along the way. Ned’s cultural Navajo identity is affected by World War II. For example, Ned says that he, "Pray[s] that none of you have to go to battle as I did. I also pray that you will fight to keep our language, to hold on to it with the same warrior spirit that our Indian people showed during that war.” (214) Ned’s language is an important aspect of his culture.

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The formation of the Navajo Code Talkers made it easy to pass messages without the Chinese being able to break it. The Native Americans were thus devoted, and their efforts influenced other servicemen to devote themselves

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Jenna Dela Cruz Jane Doe English IV 30 March 2023 They Walk on All Fours The term Skinwalker will send a cold chill down the spine of anyone familiar with this evil cryptid. The dark magic associated with the Skinwalker is so feared that members of the Navajo Nation will not speak of the creatures. To speak of a Skinwalker is considered taboo because it opens you up to becoming a victim of the Skinwalker. It is believed that the Skinwalker possesses the ability to enchant someone’s mind for the purpose of committing evil deeds.

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Remembering how difficult the language was to speak and understand he urged military leaders to use the language in a code. Leaders finally took a chance and recruited 30 Navajos to test out the code.(McCabe) Because the Navajo people didn’t keep birth records many of the Navajos were able to lie about their age and enlist with the original 30, people as young as 15 were enlisted. During training one Navajo dropped out due to undocumented reasons. In the 19th century the US government persecuted the Navajos, forcing the children to stop speaking and learning the language in boarding schools designed to eradicate the Native American culture.(Kirkus Reviews)

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Navajo Code talkers were heros to our country and have waited years to be properly acknowledged for their heroic deeds. The unbreakable code based around the Navajo language and the language is one of the hardest to learn. The code had 411 terms that the Navajos turned words into military terms. The code was never broken even after the War. The Navajos life before the war consisting them never leaving there reservations.

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Native American Code Talkers Made World War 1 Interesting During World War 1, there were many strategies and techniques that were first introduced. In particular, code talkers are people who use their knowledge of unknown Native American languages to secretly communicate messages. Because of communication failures, a U.S commander suggested using Choctaw Native Americans to secretly transmit messages. Before this suggestion, Germans were able to wiretap the U.S allies’ conversations; they then cracked their codes which were based off of European languages. Despite the benefits of this communication method, it also caused an uproar for Native American rights.

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They felt that this country was taken away from them by the white man and should not be required to help in the case of attack, but when war was declared against the Axis powers, The Navajo Nation declared: “We resolve that the Navajo Indians stand ready… to aid and defend our government and its institutions against all subversive and armed conflict and pledge our loyalty to the system and a way of life that has placed us among the greatest people of our race” (Takaki 60). Altogether forty-five thousand Indians served in the U.S. armed forces. Despite this, Indian workers received lower pay that that of whites, In the cities, Indians also experienced discrimination. Ignatia Broker of the Ojibway wrote “Although employment was good because of the labor demand of the huge defense plants, Indian people faced discrimination in restaurants, night clubs, retail and department stores… and worst of all, in housing” (Takaki

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