"Well, in Navajo everything is in memory. From the songs, prayers, everything, it's all in memory. So we didn't have no trouble. That's the way we was raised up. We have no written language...we listen, we hear, we learn to remember everything."

~ Carl Gorman

Even after the Navajo were forced off their land and their treatment at boarding schools, they were still very patriotic for their country and ready to help the U.S. in World War II.

"Whereas, the Navajo Tribal Council and the 50,000 people we represent, cannot fail to recognize the crisis now facing the world in the threat of foreign invasion and the destruction of the great liberties and benefits which we enjoy on the reservation, and

Whereas, there exists no purer concentration of Americanism that among the First Americans, and

Whereas, it has become common practice to attempt national destruction through the sowing of seeds of treachery among minority groups such as ours, and

Whereas, we hereby serve notice that any un-American movement among our people will be resented and dealt with severely, and

Now, Therefore, we resolve that the Navajo Indians stand ready as they did in 1918, to aid and defend our Government and its institutions against all subversive and armed conflict and pledge our loyalty to the system which recognizes minority rights and a way of life that has placed us among the great people of our race."

~ Resolution passed unanimously by the Navajo Tribal Council at Window Rock on June 3rd, 1940

United States Marine Corps Platoon 382, Smithsonian Institute.

In 1942, 29 Navajo men were recruited by the U.S. military to create a code using the Navajo language. By the end of World War II there were more then 400 Navajo Code Talkers.

"In developing our code, we were careful to use everyday Navajo words, so that we could memorize and retain the words easily. I think that made our job easier, and I think it helped us to be successful in the heat of battle. Still, I worried every day that I might make an error that cost American lives. But our code was the only code in modern warfare that was never broken. The Japanese tried, but they couldn’t decipher it. Not even another Navajo could decipher it if he wasn’t a code talker."

~ Chester Nez

To become a Navajo Code Talker, you had to speak both English and Navajo, be physically fit, and able to send and decipher code, quickly and under pressure. They also had to memorize the entire code, which included three alphabets. This came naturally to the Navajo, who grew up memorizing their traditional stories.

The code was so well put together that even a Navajo who spoke the language couldn’t understand it.

Navajo Code Talker's Dictionary, Naval History and Heritage Command.