Navajo Code Talkers

Paper Summary:

In this book review of Nathan Aaseng's "Navajo Code Talkers", the author talks about what he learnt from the book. He discusses the important role of Navajo Indians in World War II as code talkers. The author highlights how, thanks to the Navajo code talkers many battles were won in World War II and cites many examples of where and how it was used. The paper talks about how, in Aaseng's book, the way that volunteer code talkers were recruited and how they were trained. He also discusses the dangers that these code talkers were subjected to during their work, but most importantly the good that they were able to do during the war. The author concludes that the book, helps one with a clear understanding of the situation, how the Navajo men got involved, and the importance of taking their very complex language and using it for the good of the nation.

From the Paper:

"The success of several battles in the Pacific and of other battles during the period of the Second World War depended to a great extent on the Navajo code talkers. It was Philip Johnston, one of the few non-Navajos to speak their language fluently, and son of a missionary to those Natives, who first had the idea to use Navajo Language for secure telephone and radio communications. Johnston met Major General Vogel of USMC (United States Marine Corps) and his staff in 1942 to convince them of the value of Navajo Language as a code. 29 Navajo men were recruited by the Marine Corps, and developed a code for field transmission of message based on their language. And the necessities of the military communications resulted in the Navajo Marine code-talker recruits developing themselves a set of extensions of their language, which form the code. They then brought down their ideas to lists that could be memorized."

More papers on Navajo Code Talkers:

• Film Review # 119389 : "Review of "In Search of History: Navajo Code Talkers"
• Essay # 1851 : "Unusual Allies: The Navajo Code Talkers"
• Term Paper # 112761 : "Navajo Code Talkers in WWII"

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