Ryan Amundson-Abraham, Alex Brown, Kyle Hoffman American Indians in Movies Linda Grover 12/12/13

Navajo Code Talkers Effect on WWII During World War II the Japanese had been fighting a hard battle. They broke every code that the Unite States Military created, making it impossible to devise plans without the Japanese finding out. This caused the Japanese to predict everything and then make a counterplan to go against the United States. They also would create false messages so they could ambush allied troops. The codes that they had then just wasnt working out and they had to find a better way to communicate. The solution that they had come up with was Navajos language. The person who came up with this idea was Phillip Johnston. He had heard what was happening in the war and knew that he was only one of thirty people that could speak the language and it would be impossible to decode. Johnston grew up on the Navajo reservation; knowing the language he knew that it had no alphabet and was really hard language to master. Johnston gave a demonstration to top commanders within the United States marines and they were very impressed with how complicated the language was and how hard it would be to decipher.

Once permission was given, a Navajo Code Talker test program was started. The elite unit was formed in 1942 which consisted of the first 29 Navajo Code Talkers, which were recruited by Johnston. Over the course of the war the code was modified. Of this group of 29 Navajo Code Talkers they were known as the Original 29. Most of the men that enlisted were just boys. Most of them lacking birth certificates their ages were unknown, after the war though it was discovered that the age range of the 29 men was between 15 and 35. The original 29 started training day and night they worked hard on creating the code and learning it. Once they finally felt that they had finally made the code they continued to be tested and re-tested, making sure that there were no errors in the codes they translating. They want to make sure they all could do it without error because one wrong error could be the deciding factor between staying alive and thousands being killed. Once the original 29 were trained 27 of the Navajo code talkers were sent to Guadalcanal while the other two code talkers stayed behind to become instructors. Johnston also wanted to be apart and help out so he enlisted and participated in the program by training all the new recruits in the program. The program turned out to be a success and the U.S Marine Corps authorized unlimited recruiting for the program. The Navajo nation consisted of 50,000 people and by the end of the war there were a total of 420 Navajo code talkers.

As it is clear in the history books that the U.S. and their allies won World War II, it is not so clearly stated the reasons why the war was won. Most people look past the fact that there was a small group of Native Americans who helped drastically change the outcomes of many battles that occurred during the war. Everyone knows that the Japanese started the war when they bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Early on in the war, the Japanese were cracking every code that the U.S. had in their playbook. The U.S. was stumped at that point and thats when they turned to a small group of Navajo Indians who essentially helped win the war for the United States. This small group of 29 volunteer Navajo Indians was recruited from their homeland. The man that was responsible for recruiting the 29 Navajo Indians was a man by the name of Philip Johnson, a former missionarys son who once lived on the Navajo Reservation. Johnson, knowing that the Navajos language was complex, convinced leaders of the military to have the small group of Navajo help in their efforts to win the war. Even though it seemed like a great plan to have the Navajo help partake in the code talking, many military leaders were skeptical at first. Many of the leaders put the Navajo through a test at first to see just how effective their skills would be. It did not take much convincing though however because the military officials were shocked just how good their skills and code cracking/talking abilities were. If it werent for the group of Navajo, the Americans would never have taken Iwo Jima. During the first 48 hours that the marines were at Iwo Jima, six Navajo radio networks were operating around the

clock. Over 800 messages were sent and received in that time period without a single error occurring. Since the code that the Navajo had created was so successful, more than 400 more Navajo were recruited shortly after that time. The Japanese were completely baffled at this point and didnt know what to do. Their master cryptographers would go the whole war without being able to crack the code. Iwo Jima however was not the only battle that the Navajo played a role in. From 1942-1945, Navajo Code Talkers had participated in numerous battles throughout the Pacific. Some of the main battles that they participated in were Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Peleliu, and Tarawa. Code talking was not the only thing that the Navajo played a role in. They also participated as regular soldiers on the battlefield, facing the same horrors and endeavors that every other soldier encountered. The Navajo had a very tough time on the battlefield though, because more times than not, they were mistook for Japanese soldiers. Many Navajo were killed because of the mix up and that is why they had it a little more difficult than white soldiers. Because the mix up happened quite often, many Navajo Code Talkers were ordered by higher up officials to travel with a bodyguard. The reason for the bodyguards was so they werent being mistaken for the Japanese, and the Code Talkers were so beneficial they couldnt afford to lose the great men. It was tough to gauge approximately how many code talkers died throughout the war, but it is estimated that 16 out of 420 lost their lives.

The movie Windtalkers provides a great sense of just how important the Navajo were in helping win World War II for the United States. The movie takes you down to the battlefield to show viewers just how gruesome and rough the soldiers had it. When the Navajo first arrived where they were to be stationed, they were not welcomed all that great. Many of the white soldiers tried picking fights with them and tried to make life hard for them. Little did the white soldiers know how beneficial the Navajo would be in helping save their lives. As the movie goes on, it shows that the white soldiers grow appreciative towards the Native Americans and the recognition they truly deserved. It gives a good in depth look as well of how the Code Talkers communicated with other Code Talkers in different places so they could get a leg up on the Japanese. What happens in the movie is, Cpl. Joe Enders, (Nicolas Cage) returns to active duty after a gruesome battle he had with the Japanese that left him as the only survivor of his squad. His new assignment is to protect one of the Code Talkers, named Pvt. Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) in the film and he will then earn the rank of Sergeant. A lifelong friend of Yahzee, also has the same mission as him as a Code Talker to help send and receive messages. Their main mission is to send and receive coded messages that direct battleship bombardments of Japanese entrenched positions. Yahzees protector in the movie is Sgt. Ox Anderson and if either of the two Navajo were to be captured, Enders and Anderson were ordered to kill them. The reason being for killing their Navajo Code Talker that they were assigned to was because the Navajo were often tortured if they

were captured and the U.S. couldnt have the Japanese trying to get the codes out of them. During their first battle experience as Code Talkers, Yahzees radio is destroyed by friendly fire and they must find a way to tell their counterparts that they are being fired upon. Enders takes Yahzee as a pretend Japanese prisoner over to one of the trenches and then lets Yahzee get ahold of the Japs radio so he can tell the Americans to stop friendly firing upon his squad. This just showed how crucial the Navajo were in the war because there is no way a white soldier could have pretended to be a Japanese soldier and then go and communicate over the radio. The movie does a great job in articulating why the Navajo helped the Americans win the war. It just showed how versatile they were in their efforts. The Navajo Code Talkers in the last decade being recognized for their efforts and services during World War II. Not many people knew the code talkers existed even after the war in 1962. Three decades later and the story and logic of the code talkers finally surfaced and are becoming recognized now. They were import key in winning Iwo Jima allowing the code talkers to use their own language to communicate strategy to talk down the Japanese. The first ceremony for the Code Talkers took place in Chicago in 1969. They all receive a bronze medal with the classic picture of the American group at Iwo Jima raising the fallen flag and a Navajo Indian riding a horse. The bronze medal was

surrounded by turquoise stones and had rawhide thongs, which had red, white, and blue beads on it. Two years later the Code Talkers started the association for the Code Talkers which they were in parades, gave speeches, and gave examples of how they used the code. There uniform consists of khaki pants, a gold shirt and a red hat. In the early 80s the Governor of New Mexico announced that April 10th would be the New Mexico Code Talker Day. Even the President of the United States Ronald Reagan that same year announced that August 14 as National Code Talker Day. The surviving Code Talkers each received a Certificate of Appreciation by the Reagan at the ceremony in Washington D.C. The United States dedicated two permanent memorials to the Code Talkers. One of the memorials is in Phoenix, Arizona made in 1989 with a Navajo boy with a flute in his hand. The flute symbolized the communications used to signify peace is coming. The other memorial is at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. which includes photos, equipment, and some documents of sample code. Since the stories surfacing to the public, over 500 books have been written about their efforts in the war. Many of the veterans have been on television documentaries sharing their first person experiences with the nation. They even had a motion picture called Windtalkers starring Nicholas Cage and Adam Beach a Native American himself.

There is a veterans memorial in the Window Rock Navajo Tribe in Arizona. The memorial consists of sixteen steel bayonets made with glass panels. Each glass has a soldiers name that was killed in action etched on the glass. When the sun hits the glass the shadows of the names are seen on the ground. The dead shield the living as they look skyward to forever, as the sun moves, so too do the names onto the earth, the land, then the stone by an unknown author. Some of the original Code Talkers were invited to the Redskins football game to be honored. They were proud to all wear the Redskins jackets along with their issued Navajo Code Talker hat. The crowd gave them a standing ovation to honor them knowing how great of an impact they had in World War II.

Works Cited
http://navajonationparks.org/images/WRMemorial.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2013/11/25/redskins-honor-membersof-the-navajo-code-talker-association/

"Honoring Them." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

"Windtalkers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

"How the Navajo Code Talkers Helped Win World War II." How the Navajo Code Talkers Helped Win World War II. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

"Navajo Code Talkers." Navajo Code Talkers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

"Official Site of the Navajo Code Talkers." Official Site of the Navajo Code Talkers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.