Navajo Code-Talkers During The Battle of Iwo Jima

            After the island was officially secured, the Marines projected that there were no more than 300 Japanese soldiers left alive in the tunnels.  It was later discovered that there were more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers left under the ground of Iwo Jima (Bradley, 2009).  The Japanese that could not bring themselves to commit suicide in the tunnels scavenged at night for provisions.  Eventually, some of these Japanese soldiers surrendered to very compassionate American troops (HistoricalResources, 2008).

            The Navajo code-talkers held a large part in every assault the United States Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945.  Many American soldiers risked their lives on the success of the Navajo code.   A Marine Corps signal officer summed up the situation after WW2:  ”Were it not for the Wind Talkers, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima and other places” (Hansen, 2004).

            American Marines were able to use a single code that was never broken by the Japanese, nor any other opponent during their military history (including the Korean War and Vietnam).  Navajo Indian code-talkers spoke in a code created from their barely-known language to help win many Pacific battles.  The intricacy of the Navajo code confused the Japanese forces.  It attested impossible to break for many reasons.  For one, there are multiple sounds for vowels used in words that are closely related in spelling but have multiple meanings(Hansen, 2004).  The complexity increased on the receiving end of the transmission as well.  When a Navajo code-talker obtained the sequence of unrelated Navajo words, he translated every word into English.  From the compilation of English words, he then used the first letter in each word to make a whole word in English.  The original Navajo code-talkers also created and learned approximately 450 words that represented military terms in order to further increase their possibilities in battle (HistoricalResources, 2008).

            Neither the Navajo code-talkers nor the code itself received any recognition whatsoever after the war.  The operation was finally declassified in 1968, which is when the code-talkers finally received their much deserved recognition.  In 1982, the code-talkers were awarded the Certificate of Recognition by the United States President Ronald Reagan.  The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to 29 World War II Navajo code-talkers in 2000 under President Bill Clinton.  The Navajo code-talkers were a very vital part of every battle in the Pacific, especially come the equally important battle of Iwo Jima.  Without the intricate code of the Navajo language, the Pacific front may have resulted in a different outcome (Woodbury, 2004).

Works Cited

(2007, October 29). Navajo Code Talkers. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from The Natural American Web site: http://www.thenaturalamerican.com/wind_talkers.htm

Bradley, John H. (2009). Iwo Jima Land Battle. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from Iwo       Jima, Inc. Web site: http://www.iwojima.com/battle/index.htm   

Hansen, Susan (204, November 16). A Brief History of Code Talkers. Retrieved August             13, 2009, from Navajo Code Talkers Association Web site:          http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/           

HistoricalResources (2008, September 15). Iwo Jima Maps – February 19, 1945–March             26, 1945. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from Historical Resources About The    Second World War Web site: http://historicalresources.files.worldpress.com

Woodbury, Chuck (2004). How the Navajo Code Talkers Helped Win World War II.          Retrieved August 13, 2009, from Out West Newspaper Web site:             www.outwestnewspaper.com/codetalkers.html