Navajo Code Talker, Albert Smith, with Young Marines youth member Catherine Dick, Division 6 Young Marine of the Year 2006. “This is an incredible learning opportunity for the participating Young Marines,” said Brenda McNulty, Unit Commander, Mountain View unit of the Young Marines. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for Young Marines to meet a World War II hero.”

More than 200 members of the Young Marines will travel to Window Rock, AZ, to be part of Navajo Code Talkers Day which is Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. The Young Marines’ theme is “Teaching Today’s Youth about Yesterday’s Heroes.”

The Young Marines will participate for three days, acting as escorts for veterans. Additional events are planned for Aug. 13, 14 and 15:



Aug. 13 - Community service project – Clean up of Veteran’s Memorial Park in Window Rock, attend an educational class about the Navajo Code Talkers and experience a meet-and-greet with a Navajo Code Talker.

Aug. 14 – Set up flags and march in the Navajo Nation parade, escort the Navajo Code Talkers, participate in the ceremony as well as provide gifts for the Navajo Code Talkers and their wives. The Young Marines will also do post parade clean up.

Aug. 15 – Visit the Navajo Nation Zoo and the Navajo Museum. The Navajo Nation will put on a cultural class especially for the Young Marines.

“This is an incredible learning opportunity for the participating Young Marines,” said Brenda McNulty, Unit Commander, Mountain View unit of the Young Marines. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for Young Marines to meet a World War II hero.”

Every year since 2006, Young Marines from across the country gather in Window Rock, AZ, to honor and give praise to the Navajo Code Talkers from WWII. Last year, nearly 200 Young Marines from all across the country attended.

The Young Marines have become important participants,” McNulty said. “They organize most of the events including sending out the invitations, finding the guest speaker, escorting veterans, singing the National Anthem, marching in the parade and more.”

"Most adults don't even know what a Navajo Code Talker is, and I actually got to meet several of them," said Autumn Montgomery, a 12-year-old Young Marine from the Mountain View unit. "Last year I even got to carry the banner in their parade. I was so proud."

"It’s rare to meet people who have had such an impact on our lives," McNulty said. "These men are more than just WWII heroes. They are dear friends to the Young Marines. Frankly, this event is my heart. I could go without Christmas or 4th of July just don't take away my time with the Code Talkers. They are all like my grandfathers, and they love these kids."

Top secret

During the early months of WWII, Japanese intelligence experts broke every code the U.S. forces devised. They were able to anticipate American actions at an alarming rate. With plenty of fluent English speakers at their disposal, they sabotaged messages and issued false commands in order to ambush Allied troops.

To combat this, increasingly complex codes were initiated. At Guadalcanal, military leaders complained that sending and receiving these codes required hours of encryption and decryption—up to two and a half hours for a single message. They rightly argued the military needed a better way to communicate.

World War I veteran Philip Johnston suggested that the U.S. military develop a code based on the Navajo language which was unwritten. The son of a missionary to the Navajos, Johnston was one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language fluently.

Johnston had been brought up on a Navajo reservation, and he knew that many Navajo words have different meanings depending on context. Once he demonstrated to the Marine Corps how effective a Navajo-based code would be in thwarting intelligence breaches, the Marines set out to sign up Navajos as radio operators.

In 1942, 29 Navajos ranging in age from 15 to 35, created the first U.S. military code based on their indigenous language. It started with a vocabulary of 200 terms but tripled in quantity by the time World War II ended. The Navajo code talkers could pass messages in as little as 20 seconds.

The code was so complex that not even native Navajo speakers could comprehend it. The code also proved unique, because the Navajo soldiers weren’t allowed to write it down once they were on frontlines of the war. Everything was memorized.

During the first two days of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the code talkers transmitted 800 messages with no mistakes. Their efforts played a key role in the U.S. emerging victoriously from the Battle of Iwo Jima as well as the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Okinawa.

In 1942, there were about 50,000 Navajo tribe members. As of 1945, 540 Navajos served as Marines, 420 as code talkers. The Navajo soldiers’ unbreakable code saved thousands of lives and helped end WWII.

The Navajo Code Talkers may have been World War II heroes, but the public didn’t realize it, because the code remained a top military secret for decades following the war.

The Navajo Code Talkers’ contributions to the U.S. military during World War II became better known with the release of the 2002 movie, “Windtalkers,” starring Nicolas Cage.

Although the movie received mixed reviews, it exposed the public to World War II’s Native American heroes.

Founded in 2009 by a small group of surviving Navajo Code Talkers, the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating current and future generations about the history, ideals, and heroic accomplishments in World War II by the Navajo Code Talkers. The Foundation further sets out to preserve and pass on the unique Navajo language and the Navajo Code Talkers legacy through public education in a place of honor, refuge, renewal and healing.

Private donations and corporate sponsorships are being sought for the National Navajo Code Talkers Museum and Veterans’ Center. For more information, visit: http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/donate_and_support/.

The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501c(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, age eight through the completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral and physical development of its members. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

Since the Young Marines' humble beginnings in 1959 with one unit and a handful of boys, the organization has grown to over 300 units with 10,000 youth and 3,000 adult volunteers in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Germany, Japan and affiliates in a host of other countries.

For more information, visit http://www.youngmarines.com/.