In all the wars and battles of this century, each side has been creating different ways of communicating with their troops out in the field without having the other side get wind of what they were planning. The creation of long-range radios have helped tremendously for Generals to keep in touch with their troops and get status reports on how various situations and operations are panning out. The only problem with radios is that if the enemy is able to tap into that signal, your troops might meet and ambush. In the more recent years, technology has advanced to the point where we are able to secure communications disallowing others from listening in. From 1930 through the 1940’s when we were in the middle of the second World War, we did not have the same security on radios that we enjoy today so our government decided to use a code that they had used in previous wars: Indian language. This was a races dialect but it was unique in that no other countries had Indians with languages that were not used in other areas. Of course all tribes have different dialects but the government selected various ones at different times like Choctaw and Comanche, which were originally used or Navajo, which was used heavily in World War II. Using l

Some may ask, “Well it would be easy for the enemy to capture an Indian and have him/her translate messages so why didn’t that work?” The answer to this question is perplexing until you dig a little deeper into the code itself. Cryptographers within the military brainstormed about this situation and created a solution of adding an additional layer of alphabet code to prevent interception by native speakers not trained as Code Talkers, in the event of their capture. Though the Navajo spoken code was not very strong by cryptographic standards of its time, it was never broken. The closest this code ever got to being broken was when the Japanese captured Joe Kieyoomia in the Phillipines in 1941. Kieyoomia was a Navajo Seargeant in the Army at time of capture and was forced to interpret radio messages. He told his capturers that he was unable to make sense of the code and was then tortured. Some believe that the code could have been broken if Kieyoomia’s knowledge was exploited more effectively by the Japanese cryptologists.

ing languages not present anywhere else in the world except the United States created a perfect and easy way for the government to create an almost unbreakable code.

Through the years, code has always been a useful tool to keep important messages a secret when fighting in battles and wars. The Navajo language, along with an added layer, became the most successful and secure code that the United States or any country has ever used. Through its use it has never been cracked by an enemy or by any person that can speak the Navajo language. It hasn’t been until the recent years when these brave men were finally recognized and honored. I believe that they played an important role in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and that it is one