Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific Theater. Their primary job was to transmit messages in code by radio and telephone concerning troop movements, tactics, and vital battlefield orders. The Code Talkers were on the front lines when the U.S. troops landed on Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal.
The Japanese military was proud of its skill in breaking codes, but it was baffled by the Navajo language. The Navajo code was so valuable in winning World War II that it remained a classified secret until the late 1960s. Only in recent years have the men who served as Navajo Code Talkers received the awards and recognition they deserve. Many of the Code Talkers are modest about their role. “To me, I think it was the language,” said Code Talker, Sam Billison. “It wasn’t us, we just used it. It’s the Navajo language that did the work, and I think it’s the language that should be honored.”
The Navajo Code Talkers are part of a long tradition of Native Americans who have proudly served in the U. S. military. Sam Billison said, “To all the American Indians, North America is our country. That’s why we fight for it. We call it our Mother Country, so when somebody tries to take your mother away, you fight for it, you protect it.”
Between 1942 and 1945, more than four hundred Navajos served as Code Talkers. Today less than a hundred of the Navajo Code Talkers are still alive. The Navajo Code Talker Association works to tell the true story of the Code Talkers and to promote education for future generations of Navajos.
Historymakers Navajo Code Talkers biographies published in 2005
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