The Battle of Iwo Jima and the unbreakable Navajo Code

Blogs VA Org ^ | February 19th, 2020 | News Sections: Native American Veterans

[Robert DeLong]

Peter MacDonald is one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers. The former chairman of the Navajo Nation recently sat down with VAntage Point staff to explain what made the “unbreakable” code so effective, and how it helped save lives and secure victory in the Pacific.

“Without Navajo, Marines would never have taken the island of Iwo Jima,” he said. “That’s how critical Navajo Code was to the war in the Pacific.” The Unbreakable Code

Code Talkers used native languages to send military messages before World War II. Choctaw, for example, was used during World War I. The Marine Corps, however, needed an “unbreakable” code for its island-hopping campaign in the Pacific. Navajo, which was unwritten and known by few outside the tribe, seemed to fit the Corps’ requirements.

Twenty-nine Navajos were recruited to develop the code in 1942. They took their language and developed a “Type One Code” that assigned a Navajo word to each English letter. They also created special words for planes, ships and weapons.

Understanding Navajo didn’t mean a person could understand the code. While a person fluent in the language would hear a message that translated into a list of words that seemingly had no connection to each other, a code talker would hear a very clear message.

Here is an example:

Navajo Code: DIBEH, AH-NAH, A-SHIN, BE, AH-DEEL-TAHI, D-AH, NA-AS-TSO-SI, THAN-ZIE, TLO-CHIN Translation: SHEEP, EYES, NOSE, DEER, BLOW UP, TEA, MOUSE, TURKEY, ONION Deciphered Code: SEND DEMOLITION TEAM TO …

In addition to being unbreakable, the new code also reduced the amount of time it took to transmit and receive secret messages. Because all 17 pages of the Navajo code were memorized, there was no need to encrypt and decipher messages with the aid of coding machines. So, instead of taking several minutes to send and receive one message, Navajo code talkers could send several messages within seconds. This made the Navajo code talker an important part of any Marine unit.

[wally_bert]

I really looked forward to seeing the film and about 15 minutes in, I was do let down. As a rule I generally liked Nicholas Cage movies at the time.

We all have our phases.

[Paal Gulli]

Not as well-known but there also were Code Talkers in WWI.

Because the lines were so fluid, they tended to leave the commo lines for the field telephones in place and as the new side took a bit of trench, they just tied into the commo lines the previous occupants had left. Not to mention that in that environment, in just a few days time anything that was left on the ground would be buried in mud.

Except the Huns took to tapping into the lines of any trench they occupied and running a connection from there back to their rear lines, where they could continue to monitor it even if they were displaced. So the Germans were having a YUGE advantage because they were privy to all of the Allies’ field telephone conversations.

Until a certain Col. A.W. Bloor of the 142nd Infantry Regiment (36th Division) overheard a conversation between some Choctaw Indians in his command and realized that if he couldn’t understand them, then the Germans probably couldn’t either.

The Indians first had to invent their own code because there were lots of military terms there was no Choctaw equivalent of. But they began using the Code Talkers in late October of 1918 and from the very first offensive that followed they had dramatically more success than previous offensives, probably because it had been years since they launched an attack that the Germans didn’t already know the full plans for before it started.

Thanks to the Choctaw from Oklahoma.

[nutmeg]

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[Robert DeLong]

Yes I knew about the Choctaw Indians in WWI, and like them the Navajos also had to make up their own code, so even if someone knew Navajo they still did not know what they were talking about.

[Boiler Plate]

[oldvirginian]

“Thank you for saving me 2 hours of drivel!”

Glad to help.
I give a lot of lea-way when history and big name Hollywood names are in the same movie, realizing the Name wins out over history every time. This movie was especially egregious however and killed the entire film.