The Navajo Indians also found problems in the
war itself. They were sometimes mistaken for Japanese and taken prisoner.
They would then have to prove that they were Navajo. Some Navajo’s
had to have an escort so those mistakes like these were not made.
After using the code in battle, they found
a need for a larger vocabulary. They found that there were more words
that they needed to use because of how frequently they found themselves
spelling these words. They also had to make the alphabet larger,
because if the Japanese figured how frequently each word was used they
might figure out what letter was associated with it. So they contacted
the Code Talker school and told them about their concerns. The school then
made the vocabulary from 200 word to 400 words. They also made the
alphabet much more difficult to decipher but adding more word to be associated
with each letter. The more popular letters were given 3 word and less popular
letters were given 2 words. This meant the code talkers had more memorizing
to do.
The Navajo code talkers were eventually used
more frequently. They proved themselves on various occasions.
One time the Americans had thought that the Japanese were in a certain
area. The Japanese moved from that area and the one American group moved
in. The other Americans started firing because they thought
it was the Japanese and the American group being shot at used the radio
to tell them to stop shooting. The American that were shooting only
thought that it was the Japanese trying to trick them so they continued.
Finally they got a Navajo code talker on the radio and he told them to
stop shooting and then realized that they were shooting at their own men.
The Navajo code talkers are know to have sent
over 800 messages in a 2 day interval and all of the 800 messages that
were sent in those two days not one had an error.
V. After the War
After the war when the Navajos returned home it
seemed as though there was not as much harm done mentally to the code talkers
as there had been to others that had served in the war. This is not
because the Navajos didn’t fight because they were right in the middle
of battle with the other soldiers. Also many of the code talkers
were not used as code talkers when this program was first used, they just
performed the duties of normal soldiers.
At the end of World War II it was said that around
400 Navajos served the nation in this capacity. That is why it is
surprising that it took the Government so long to recognize these soldiers,
which turned out to be a very important part of the “Battle of the Islands.”
Perhaps this is because the code was classified information until the late
1960’s.
It was many years after the end of World War II
before the Navajo Code Talkers were recognized for their contribution to
the war effort. This happened because of the value that the code
still had. This code was finally declassified in 1968. It was
only declassified then because electronic equipment was being developed
that would be sufficient.
The Navajo Code Talkers were also used in Korea
in the 1950’s and in Vietnam in the 1960’s. This is how secure this
code was it still was not broken during these wars. It also shows
how much confidence that the military had in this system of coding.
These code talkers were not nationally recognized
until there was a reunion of the Fourth Marine Division Association in
1969. Then in 1971 President Nixon awarded a special certificate
to the code talkers to thank them for their “patriotism, resourcefulness,
and courage.”
In early 1982, August 14,1982 was declared National
Code Talkers Day, in honor of all the men who served in this capacity during
the war. On September 17, 1992 the Navajo Code Talkers of World War
II were honored for their contributions. This was done at the Pentagon,
Washington D.C. where an exhibit in their honor was dedicated.
The Navajo Code Talkers made a major contribution
to WWII. There is lesson that we can all learn from them.
They kept their culture though out all the hardships. It is for this
fact that the Navajo Code Talkers were such an asset to the U.S during
WWII. If they would have given in to the white man, they wouldn’t
have still had their language and the United States wouldn’t have an unbreakable
code to look back on.
Bibliography
Aaseng, Nathan. Navajo Code Talkers. Canada: Thomas Allen
& Son, 1992.
Bixler, Margaret. Winds of Freedom: The Story of the Navajo Code
Talkers of World
War II. Darien: Two Bytes Publishing Company, 1992.
Shepherdson, Nancy. America’s Secret Weapon. Boy’s Life.
November 1997. P.45.
Wilson, William. Code Talkers. American History.
February 1997.pp.16(7).
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm
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