August 14: National Navajo Code Talkers Day
Prayer Idea
Pray for the people and government of the Navajo Nation.
History Note
Even though they have faced hostility and persecution for centuries, members of Native Nations have faithfully served in the United States military since the American Revolution.
During World War I, the U.S. military employed members of the Choctaw, Ho-Chunk, Eastern Cherokee, Comanche, Cheyenne, Yankton Sioux, and Osage as code talkers. These Native men used their Indigenous languages to communicate in codes that the German army could not break.
These are members of the Choctaw telephone squad who served in World War I. Image courtesy the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University.
The program expanded during World War II and included men from other Native Nations, including the Meskwaki, Ojibwe, Oneida, Hopi, and Seminole. Comanche code talkers were involved in the Allied invasion of Europe. The Diné (Najavo) provided the largest contingent to help win the war in the Pacific. Over 400 Najavo men served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
One code talker would receive a message in English and translate it into a coded message in Navajo. He would transmit the message by radio to another soldier, who would translate the coded message back into English. The Japanese were unable to decipher the Navajo code. According one Marine officer, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”
The work of the WWII code talkers was classified until 1968, so the men who served in this way were not able to talk about their experiences, even with their family members. In 1982 Congress passed a resolution to honor the code talkers, and President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation to recognize August 14 as National Navajo Code Talkers Day.
In 2001 the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers received the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service. Only four of them were able to attend the ceremony in person, so family members accepted the medals of the others. The U.S. Mint has issued medals honoring members of other Native Nations who served as code talkers.
These Navajo code talkers were photographed on the island of Saipan in 1944. Photo courtesy the National Archives.
Learn More
In this video, one of the Navajo code talkers describes their experience.
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