Battles & Wars › World War II › World War II
Native American code talkers
Navajo Marines 1942–45; Choctaw soldiers in 1918· Event· Technology, codes & intelligence
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Native American service members who sent battlefield messages in their own languages, which enemy codebreakers could not understand.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
In October 1918, Choctaw soldiers in France passed field-phone messages in Choctaw. In 1942 the Marines, prompted by Philip Johnston, a missionary's son raised on the Navajo reservation, recruited 29 Navajos to build a code: Navajo words stood for military terms, such as 'iron fish' for submarine, plus a word alphabet. Roughly 400 Navajo Marines served in the Pacific, and Japan never broke the code. Many had been punished at boarding schools for speaking Navajo.
Why it matters
Their speed and security mattered in fast island fighting, and their story became a source of pride and belated recognition for Native nations.
How we know
Marine Corps records, declassified in 1968; memoirs such as Chester Nez's 'Code Talker' (2011); and Congressional Gold Medals awarded in 2001 and under a 2008 act honoring over 30 tribes.
Still debated
How many code talkers served in all, across more than 30 tribes, is uncertain, since records stayed secret and incomplete for decades.
Connections (3)
▸Guadalcanal campaign was an early proving ground for Native American code talkersWell documented
The connection
The first Navajo code talkers, from the original group of 29 recruits, joined the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal in 1942. Their fast, secure radio messages there persuaded Marine commanders to ask for many more, and the program grew to several hundred men.
When and how
Guadalcanal, 1942–43; the first Navajo Marines, who had built and learned the code near San Diego in 1942.
How we know
Marine Corps records and veterans' accounts, including that of Chester Nez, one of the original 29, who served on Guadalcanal.
Debates and open questions
Accounts differ on exactly when they first went into action and how widely they were used there; some officers at first distrusted the untested system.
▸Native American code talkers relayed hundreds of messages in the Battle of Iwo JimaWell documented
The connection
At Iwo Jima, six Navajo code talkers of the 5th Marine Division worked around the clock during the first two days, sending and receiving over 800 messages without error. Their signal officer, Major Howard Connor, later said the Marines would never have taken the island without the Navajos.
When and how
Iwo Jima, February 19 – March 26, 1945; Navajo Marines serving in the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions.
How we know
Connor's postwar statement, widely quoted in Marine Corps histories, and veterans' accounts; the message count comes from that testimony.
Debates and open questions
Connor's praise is often quoted, but the exact figures rest largely on his recollection rather than surviving message logs.
▸Native American code talkers included Comanche signalers landing on D-Day (Normandy landings)Well documented
The connection
Code talking was not only Navajo or Pacific. Comanche soldiers in the US 4th Infantry Division's signal company landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, passing messages in Comanche, with a few coded words for military terms. Their work continued as the division fought inland across France and into Germany.
When and how
Utah Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944; Comanche men recruited in Oklahoma in 1940, serving in the 4th Signal Company, 4th Infantry Division.
How we know
Army records and veterans' testimony, including Charles Chibitty, the last surviving Comanche code talker, who died in 2005; France honored the group in 1989.
Debates and open questions
Exactly how many Comanche signalers landed on D-Day, usually given as 13 or 14, and how heavily their code was used vary by account.