The Navajo Code Talkers Essay Example

World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, involving a multitude of countries around the world. There were many new roles, strategies, events, and more that occurred during this period - a significant and underestimated implementation during the war were code talkers, specifically, Navajo code talkers. A code talker was a person employed by the military during war who used a rare language as a means of secret communication. During the Second World War, hundreds of American Indians joined the United States Armed Forces and utilized words from their traditional tribal languages as weapons and tactics against their enemies. The idea for the Navajo language as a military code came from Philip Johnston, a World War I veteran and the son of a missionary who lived in the Navajo Nation. By conveying messages by telephone and radio in their native language, the code talkers introduced a language never broken by the Japanese. In 1942, 29 Navajo men joined the U.S. Marines and developed an unbreakable code that would be used during WWII and made a prodigious impact in history. 

During an appearance at the White House in 2017, Navajo Code Talker and Navajo Code Talkers Association, President Peter MacDonald, stated “In the early part of World War II, the enemy was breaking every military code that was being used in the Pacific. This created a huge problem for strategizing against the enemies. Eventually, a suggestion was made in early 1942 to use Navajo language as a code”. The commencement of these soldiers, according to the National Archives and Record, occurs when Johnston got the idea after reading an article talking about how the Army used Native American soldiers as signalmen during training maneuvers. Later that year, the U.S. Marines recruited 29 Navajo men to be code talkers. Each recruit had to meet the general qualifications of a Marine as well as be fluent in Navajo and English. This therefore led to the practical use of the Navajo language during the Second World War. The 29 initial recruits developed this unbreakable code, and successfully transmitted the code under intense conditions, making a vital contribution in the war. 

To understand the true endeavors of the Navajo men, actually hearing about the experiences of many of the survivors allows one to gain a perspective on how substantial this role was. Keith Little served as a Navajo Code Talker for the United States Marines during WWII, including in Iwo Jima, Roi Namur, Saipan, and other Pacific locations. Little had stated in an interview “My weapon was my language, and that language probably saved countless lives”. After a tough upbringing, Keith Little was determined to contribute to the war when he learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but had to wait two years to enlist as he was fifteen years old at the time. Eventually he signed up for the code talker program, and witnessed many hardships and violence, while helping to maintain communications with a code that the Japanese could not crack. Another hero, Samuel Tso, also served as a Navajo Code Talker after enlisting in the Marines in March 1943, where he deployed to locations such as Guadalcanal, Guam, and Okinwa. He was not one of the original 29, but nevertheless played an integral role in the war. Lastly, another example was Samuel Tom Holiday. He grew up forbidden to speak the Navajo language while attending boarding schools, leading to his retaliation of the importance of his culture and embracing his roots. This led to him serving in the South Pacific and becoming a role model and inspiration for Navajo Youth. While all these brave people may not have survived or have died in the past years, they all lived a purposeful and admirable life in their contribution as a code talker. They helped develop and utilize the unbreakable code and made a prominent impact that should be recognized and celebrated. 

The influence of the Navajo code talkers did not obtain the recognition it deserved in the beginning. In fact, when the Navajo soldiers returned from World War II, they received no praise or parades to welcome them home. Even after the program was declassified in 1968 and people could speak of it, the Navajo code talkers’ roles were not widely shown. However, progressively, things changed and people grew to realize how important Navajo people were in the war and how much this code saved lives and advanced society. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared August 14th as National Code Talkers Day. Then, in 2000, the Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers Act was signed into law, leading to the Navajo Code Talkers being honored with Congressional Gold and Silver medals in 2001. This shows how colassal these soldiers were when it came to the Second World War. It was a way of communication without enemies deciphering the messages, therefore saving lives, executing plans, and leading to another level of transmission. 

All in all, there is a lot to take away from World War II. There are countless events, people, strategies, and more that revealed themselves during this period and that continued to have a lasting impact today. Personally, I chose the topic of Navajo Code Talkers because of a novel I had read on this specific topic in middle school: Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchas. It was a book based on the point of view of a young Navajo code talker, who talks about the true stress of this role as so many people depend on these messages being carried out safely in order to maintain order and plans. After reading the novel, and all the research with this topic, I believe it is necessary that people become aware of who Navajo code talkers were and their consequential part during the war.