The AM Forum

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573610,00.html

What a great story, only 50 of the original 400 are left.
Never saw the movie a few years back, but now its on my list.


Before the code, the Japanese intercepted and sabotaged U.S. military communications at an alarming rate because they had expert English translators. American forces then devised ever more complicated codes, but that increased the time — sometimes hours — for sending and decoding them.

The code, based on the ancient Navajo language, changed that. In the first 48 hours of the battle of Iwo Jima, six Code Talkers worked nonstop, transmitting and receiving more than 800 messages about troop movement and enemy fire — none deciphered by the Japanese. What confounded the enemy most was that Code Talkers could use distinctly different words for exactly the same message.

The Fox News article fails to mention that one of the few displays honoring the Code Talkers is located in a corner of a Burger King in Kayenta, Arizona. We stopped there on our way to see some friends Durango after visiting the Grand Canyon. Let's hope that the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation manages to create a proper museum to honor these American heroes.

http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/outoftown/arizona/navajonation/monumentvalley/burgerking/index.htm

Did not know that Paul, pretty sad.

Let's up that the powers that be do manage to acknowledge the great service these folks gave our nation.
I had never even heard about the program until the movie came out a few years ago.

Only on Sunday Frank, only on Sunday.  ;)
I posted the link as I thought folks might enjoy the background, but here are some PC correct links:

http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/ <<--- very good!

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm

There is a Code Talkers Museum in Gallup, MN

One is in the works near Albuquerque.

There is a display at the Cryptologic Museum in Maryland.

The International Spy Museum had had special presentations and programs on the Code Talkers.

Hollyweird has made a movie on the subject.


And BTW, the Navajos were neither the first nor the only. There were Choctaw code talkers/messengers in World War One. There was even a letter and/article in QST about this back in the 30’s or 40’s. Choctaws, Hopis, and members from 6-8 other tribes also served as Code Talkers in WW II.

and they didn't need no stinkin computer which is very cool

Yes, radio with computers is not radio!  >:(

They most certainly did have a computer - their brain.

They didn't just exchange messages in their native language as was widely reported, although the Japanese would have likely been unable to decipher even that.  It was a code based on the language, sort of a coded message of a coded message.

I have heard stories that they were issued suicide kits in case they were captured, to prevent the Japanese from being able to torture them into revealing the code.

Imagine these guys sending the key with the code. Yup, quite a computer

I always thought these people were using smoke signals until I saw the movie staring Nicholas Cage. :)  Seriously, it's awesome that those guys have finally been recognized for their awesome patriotic contributions despite the role our nation played in their past. 

I did see the History Channels documentary on the code talkers that came out around the time of the Hollywood production, and it was very very interesting how they encoded Navajo words to certain meanings for the military.  The enemy had to be banging their heads trying to figure out the impossible.


Does anyone here know how they encoded smoke signals? I doubt it was an alphabetic code like Morse, probably more certain patterns equaled certain concepts?  Not to stray but the curiosity just struck me.

The enemy most likely expected them to send code with a key.  ;D ;D  [/bad pun mode]

Navaho code talk, for example, if I recall correctly, turtle = a tank.