code talkers
Wartime Native communicators
Code talkers were Native American soldiers who used their indigenous languages as unbreakable military codes, most famously Navajo Marines in World War II's Pacific theater.
Because these languages had no written form and were unknown to enemy forces, transmissions could be made rapidly without encryption equipment.
The code talkers transmitted tactical messages that Japanese cryptographers never cracked.
Southwestern indigenous people
- ChoctawSoutheastern Native American nation
- GuadalcanalMelanesian island, fierce 1942 fighting
- Iwo JimaJapanese volcanic island battlefield
- Pacific TheaterWWII Asian-oceanic front
Medal of Honor · Purple Heart · D-Day · Saipan · intelligence · tactical · campaign · Allies
Southwestern indigenous people
- ChoctawSoutheastern Native American nation
- CherokeeIndigenous Southeastern nation
- ComancheSouthern Plains indigenous nation
- LakotaWestern Sioux people
Mohawk · indigenous languages · unwritten · tonal · vocabulary · syntax · translation · bilingual
Impossible to damage
- cipherHidden writing system
- encryptionConverting data into code
- decryptionConverting ciphertext to plaintext
- cryptanalysisStudy of breaking ciphers
codebreaking · plaintext · transmission · interception · classified · secure communications · indecipherable · scrambled
Originating in a region
- Native AmericanOriginal inhabitants of America
- tribalOf a clan
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- ancestryFamily line of descent
culture · legacy · preservation · recognition · sovereignty · identity · ceremonies · honor
Military personnel who fight
- recruitsNewly joined members
- enlistedSigned up formally
- platoonSmall infantry formation
- battalionMid-sized military unit
communications · radio · field telephone · operations · combat · deployment · training · secrecy
Navajo
Southwestern indigenous people
- ChoctawSoutheastern Native American nation
- GuadalcanalMelanesian island, fierce 1942 fighting
- Iwo JimaJapanese volcanic island battlefield
Pacific Theater · Medal of Honor · Purple Heart · D-Day · Saipan · intelligence · tactical · campaign · Allies · enlistment
Navajo
Southwestern indigenous people
- ChoctawSoutheastern Native American nation
- CherokeeIndigenous Southeastern nation
- ComancheSouthern Plains indigenous nation
Lakota · Mohawk · indigenous languages · unwritten · tonal · vocabulary · syntax · translation · bilingual · native speakers
unbreakable
Impossible to damage
- cipherHidden writing system
- encryptionConverting data into code
- decryptionConverting ciphertext to plaintext
cryptanalysis · codebreaking · plaintext · transmission · interception · classified · secure communications · indecipherable · scrambled · military intelligence
indigenous
Originating in a region
- Native AmericanOriginal inhabitants of America
- tribalOf a clan
- traditionCustom passed through generations
ancestry · culture · legacy · preservation · recognition · sovereignty · identity · ceremonies · honor · tribute
soldiers
Military personnel who fight
battalion · communications · radio · field telephone · operations · combat · deployment · training · secrecy · valor
- 1940sWWII, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, VE Day
- WWIID-Day, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Hiroshima, Holocaust
- codebreakerscodebreaker, codebreakers, cryptanalysts, decoders, cryptanalyst
- military communicationsradio, walkie-talkie, radio operators, signal flags, encrypted message
- Pacific MarinesGuadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, Guam
- Pacific WarPearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Midway, Okinawa, Guadalcanal
code, codes, coded, coding, coder, coders, codify, codification, talker