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Speaking Change: How the Navajo Code Talkers Broke Racial Stereotypes and Helped The U.S.

Win WW2

At the end of July in the year 1982, the 40th president of the United States, gave a

proclamation to the people of the United States. “Now, therefore I, Ronald Reagan, President of

the United States of America, do hereby designate August 14, 1982, as National Navajo Code

Talkers Day, a day dedicated to all members of the Navajo Nation and to all Native Americans

who gave of their special talents and their lives so that others might live. I ask the American

people to join me in this tribute, and I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to

commemorate this day with appropriate activities.” (Reagan Library). This proclamation refers

to the brave Navajo code talkers that served during the second world war. They were part of a

covert project that started with 29 men but eventually exceeded 400.They had the task of

developing an unbreakable and secret code to aid the war effort in the Pacific (Meadows). These

brave men challenged racial stereotypes and used their culture to aid the U.S. in its time of need.

The services of these code talkers became needed during the second world war. At first,

the U.S. did not want to become involved in the war as they were still practicing the idea of

staying out of foreign affairs, which stayed that way for many years. However, in December of

1941, the Japanese empire, in an attempt to grab American territories in the Pacific and also to

cripple the U.S. fleet, something which would give them superiority on the sea, attacked Pearl

Harbor in Hawaii which killed many Americans. In response to this, the U.S. declared war on

Japan for this unprovoked attack (National WW2 Museum). This began the tough war for

Americana as the Japanese had control over the large number of islands that they conquered,

with some being heavily fortified. Additionally, Japan had developed a strong navy and army

that proved to be difficult to best in warfare. However, the U.S. employed the strategy of
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leapfrogging, or island hopping. This strategy was to skip over the heavily fortified islands to

take the easier ones which would weaken Japan’s defenses and position whilst also saving time

and soldiers. After almost 4 years of bloody fighting, which cost the lives of many soldiers and

civilians, America made the tough decision of using its newly invented atomic bombs to force

Japan to surrender. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed in this effort which saw countless

lives lost. It did however, convince Japan to surrender which ended the war. (National WW2

Museum). This intense violence would require one side to gain an edge in order to win the war.

In order to conduct these operations, the United States required a code to be developed from

them.

As explained prior, the Pacific theater saw some of the most gruesome battles in our

history with the Japanese having developed a fierce and capable military. They were also able to

decode most of the American codes that were used (Meadows). This made it difficult for the

Marines to relay information across a battlefield without the threat of it being intercepted. In

comes the Navajo language. What makes this language unique is that it is entirely unwritten and

is very complex. Few people outside of the Navajo Nation are able to understand or speak it,

making it perfect for a code. Also, from a young age, Navajo children learn how to recite stories

perfectly which is a skill they improve by remembering longer stories as they get better. (Grier).

This method for remembering stories helped the code talkers become as successful as they were

as they did not need to write down anything that could fall into the enemy’s hand which would

jeopardize the code. For military terms that did not have its own word in Navajo, they gave it a

name that was usually either a crop or animal. For example, a tank was called a turtle and a

bomb was called a potato (Payton). None of this would be possible however, if these code talkers

did not overcome racial injustice by refusing to give up or renounce their culture. Prior to the
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war, the Navajo were subjected to government-run boarding schools that sought to assimilate

them into American culture. In these schools, they would be punished for speaking in their native

language and would be forced to learn English. However, these code talkers did not obey and

still kept their culture close to them which later proved useful for the Marines and the rest of the

United States (Peyton). This bravery in the face of unjust discrimination shows the character that

would later defend the U.S. and help it achieve victory.

Regardless of these obstacles, the Navajo were not alone. They were aided greatly by

Philip Johnston. Johston grew up on the Navajo reservation as a son of Missionaries. They were

respected as they relied on peace for disputes and even campaigned for their behalf at

Washington D.C. He joined the military during world war 1. After the war, he got the idea of

using the Navajo Language as a code (Bradford). At first, many officers had doubts about using

the code as after WW1, the Japanese had come to the U.S. and studied many Native American

languages (Meadows). However, they agreed to use it after Johnston demonstrated its

effectiveness. After this war, he took up a job as a freelance writer and wrote mostly about

Native Americans until his death in 1978 (Bradford). As said previously, the Japanese were

excellent at deciphering codes that the U.S. used. However, the complexity of the Navajo made it

perfect for use as an unbreakable code (Bradford). This code allowed Marines to win crucial

battles and gain an advantage over Japan.

Despite the help from Philip Johnston, these Navajo men still needed to overcome much

resistance. Firstly, the Japanese soldiers fought fiercely. They were taught and trained to never

surrender and to die fighting as this was the most honorable thing to do and to surrender was the

last honorable thing to do (Powers). Their persistence in combat led to the deaths of 13 soldiers

(Tohe). However, this persistence also caused the need and creation of these code breakers.
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Another difficulty that they faced was racism and desire to assimilate them into American

society. For hundreds of years, the British, later American, people have discriminated against

and fought with Native Americans, including the Navajo. They would usually kick them off their

land or expel them from an area by force. After the American government had expanded from

coast to coast, they forced the remaining tribes to live on barren reservations that they often

moved or shrunk depending on the value of that land. During this time, they also set up schools

that they would force the children of Native Americans to go to which would try to get them to

abandon their culture and embrace that of America as the way of the Native Americans was seen

by most other Americans as savage and inferior (National Geographic Society). However,

despite this intense prejudice and racism against them, they code talkers still fought for them and

proved many of these prejudices wrong as they were just as capable as any other soldier.

“Navajo Code Talkers challenged racist stereotypes and used their unique cultural heritage to

fortify the American war effort.” (Smithsonian Learning Lab Collection: Breaking Barriers:

Navajo Code Talkers (NHD @ National Museum of American History). In spite of their bravery,

these soldiers went home to continue poverty that existed since before the war. Additionally,

their services were not made fully aware until its declassification in 1968 as they were not

heavily written about nor did they have their services recognized by the government until this

time (Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code.). This tells how they continued to face

discrimination even after the war and their bravery had been used.

Regardless of these difficulties that they faced, the Navajo code talkers tremendously

changed and impacted the war effort. Many have said that without this code, the United States

either would not have won the war or it would have been a lot harder for them. This code

allowed them to transmit messages at very high speeds whilst maintaining almost complete
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accuracy. This was important as it allowed information to be transmitted on the battlefield

instantaneously which is often crucial to victory. This critical edge gave the Marines an

advantage over the Japanese military. This skill was shown in battles such as Okinawa and Iwo

Jima, some of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Theater. During these battles, the code talkers

transmitted over 800 messages without error, demonstrating the effectiveness of their code and

likely changing its outcome (Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code.). The impact that

these Navajo men had on these battles put the U.S. into a winning position in this war and

allowed them to end it much sooner which prevented more bloodshed. It also shows just how

good the Navajo language was in situations like this.

In short, the Navajo code talkers demonstrated great bravery and resilience despite the

large racial discrimination that they faced both before and after the war. President Regan’s

speech does little to express the importance and impact of these heroic men who gave their

unique skills for the benefit of America. They broke barriers of racial injustice and stereotypes

by proving their important use when peace was threatened. And despite these obstacles and

enemies, they still receive aid from friends such as Philip Johnston. Their actions allowed for a

reduced difficulty in the war and allowed it to end sooner, saving many lives of both civilians

and soldiers.
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Works Cited

Bradford, Barry. “Philip Johnston and the Navajo Code Talkers.” Speaking For A

Change, 5 Feb. 2022,

https://barrybradford.com/philip-johnston-and-the-navajo-code-talkers/.

Grier, Tom. “Peter MacDonald - Navajo Code Talker - Living History.” Youtube,

uploaded by Tom Grier, 20 Sept. 2013,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv0_FZHkKBg&t=146s.

Marder, Sgt. Murry. “NAVAJO CODE TALK KEPT FOE GUESSING; Indians With

Marines, Using Rare Native Tongue, Insured Secrecy of Messages One of “Hidden''

Languages Manned Distant Outposts.” The New York Times, 19 September 1945,

Meadows, William C. “‘They Had a Chance to Talk to One Another...’ The Role of

Incidence in Native American Code Talking.” Ethnohistory, vol. 56, no. 2, Spring 2009,

pp. 269–84. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-2008-058.

“Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code.” Central Intelligence Agency, 6

November 2008.

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-the-unbreakable-code/.

“Smithsonian Learning Lab Collection: Breaking Barriers: Navajo Code Talkers (NHD

@ National Museum of American History).” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian

Office of Educational Technology, 17 Jun. 2019,

https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/NVuKPjYwzm3Kq7Dt.

Payton, Dave. “Code Talkers overcame racism to help US.” AP News, 23 January 2019,

https://apnews.com/article/e2a78bc2a26f413c99fef69d1f19459b.
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Powers, David. “Japan: No Surrender in World War Two.” BBC, 17 February 2017,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_no_surrender_01.shtml.

Reagan, Ronald. “Proclamation 4954 - National Navajo Code Talkers Day.” 28 July

1982, https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-4954-national-

navaho-code-talkers-day

“The Pacific Strategy, 1941-1944: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The

National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 10 July

2017,

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-

1944#:~:text=he%20goal%20was%20to%20dislodge,launching%20points%20for

%20future%20attacks.&text=In%20early%20May%201942%2C%20US,Battle

%20of%20the%20Coral%20Sea.

“The United States Government’s Relationship with Native Americans.” National

Geographic, 2 June 2022, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/united-

states-governments-relationship-native-americans/.

Tohe, Laura. “Code Talkers Were America’s Secret Weapon in World War 2.” National

Endowment For The Humanities, 2022, https://www.neh.gov/article/code-talkers-were-

americas-secret-weapon-world-war-ii#:~:text=They%20returned%20home%20without

%20fanfare,with%2013%20killed%20in%20action.