Navajo code talkers

Members of the American Indian Navajo people who served in the US Marines during World War II by transmitting secure communications. The Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the US Marines conducted in the Pacific 1942–45, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native language – a code that the Japanese never broke.

The Navajo language met the military requirement for an undecipherable code because it is an unwritten language of extreme complexity, spoken only on the Navajo lands of the US southwest. The Navajo Code Talkers Program was established in September 1942, and by August 1943 a total of 191 Navajos had joined the Marine Corps for this specific task. Estimates have placed the total number of Navajos in the programme between 375 and 420 individuals.

The Navajo code talkers were also used during the Korean War in the 1950s and the Vietnam War in the 1960s, and therefore their involvement remained classified information until the late 1960s. In recognition of their service to the USA during World War II, the Navajo code talkers were awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from President Ronald Reagan in 1981.