Prologue Magazine Article Tells Story of World War II Navajo "Code Talkers"

NARA Press Release June 11, 2002

A new motion picture, Windtalkers, depicts how the U.S. Marine Corps, in World War II, enlisted Navajo Indians as "code talkers." These Native Americans became signalmen and used their own mostly unwritten Navajo language to code and send messages and help the Marines battle across the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese were never able to break the code. After the war, the "code talkers" returned home but were sworn to secrecy about the code, which remained classified until 1968. Last summer, in a US Capitol ceremony, President George W. Bush honored 29 of the code talkers with special gold medals. The story of the real "code talkers" is told in the Winter 2001 issue of Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration. It is available on the World Wide Web at www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/winter_2001_navajo_code_talkers.html

Navajo Code Talkers at Camp Elliott north of San Diego

A platoon of Navajo Code Talkers in formation at Camp Elliott under the supervision of Staff Sgt. Philip Johnston

The first detachment of Navajo Communications Specialists upon completion of their basic training program in May, 1942

Pfc. Preston Toledo, left, and Pfc. Frank Toledo, two of the Navajo marines who used a code based on their tribal language, in July 1943.

Navajo code talkers marching in formation at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (U.S. Marine Corps archive photo)

Navajo code talkers on Bouganville. John Goodluck is in the bottom row, second from right. (U.S. Marine Corps archive photo)