A Secret Code

The nation was shocked. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese planes and submarines carried out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. military base in Hawaii. More than 2,400 people were killed. The horrific attack prompted the U.S. to enter World War II the next day. 

In the months that followed, millions of Americans enlisted in the armed forces. One of them was Sam Sandoval, a 19-year-old member of the largest American Indian group, the Navajo. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from high school. When Sandoval arrived at a base in Oceanside, California, he found out he would be trained to become one of the Marines’ most important secret weapons: a code talker. 

The military uses secret codes to relay messages, like battle plans and troop movements, so the enemy cannot understand them. Sandoval, now age 94, was one of more than 400 Navajos who served as code talkers during World War II. They used their native language to create a secret code that helped the U.S. and its allies win the war.

The nation was shocked. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese planes and submarines carried out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. military base in Hawaii. More than 2,400 people were killed. The horrific attack prompted the U.S. to enter World War II the next day.

In the months that followed, millions of Americans enlisted in the armed forces. One of them was Sam Sandoval. He was a 19-year-old member of the largest American Indian group, the Navajo. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from high school. When Sandoval arrived at a base in Oceanside, California, he found out he would be trained to become one of the Marines’ most important secret weapons: a code talker.

The military uses secret codes to relay messages, like battle plans and troop movements, so the enemy cannot understand them. Sandoval, now age 94, was one of more than 400 Navajos who served as code talkers during World War II. They used their native language to create a secret code. The code helped the U.S. and its allies win the war.

The Navajo language was an unlikely choice to aid the U.S. military. When Sandoval was growing up, he and other Navajo children were discouraged from speaking it. 

Beginning in the 1860s, the U.S. government had forced Navajo children to attend boarding schools run by the government or churches. These schools encouraged students to give up their culture—and didn’t allow them to speak their native language. 

Sandoval went to a boarding school near Farmington, New Mexico, where, he says, he would sneak away with other students to speak Navajo. 

The Navajo language was an unlikely choice to aid the U.S. military. When Sandoval was growing up, he and other Navajo children were discouraged from speaking it.

Beginning in the 1860s, the U.S. government had forced Navajo children to attend boarding schools. These schools were run by the government or churches. The schools encouraged students to give up their culture. Students weren’t allowed to speak their native language.

Sandoval went to a boarding school near Farmington, New Mexico. He says he would sneak away with other students to speak Navajo. 

When the U.S. entered World War II, it needed a code that Japan’s skilled code breakers couldn’t decipher. If a code were cracked, the success of a battle, and the lives of troops, would be put at risk. 

In 1942, a man named Philip Johnston came up with a solution. Johnston wasn’t Navajo, but he knew how complex the language was. He had grown up on a reservation where his parents were Christian missionaries. At the time, there was no widely used written version of Navajo, and very few non-Navajo people knew how to speak the language. Johnston convinced military leaders to recruit young Navajo men to become “code talkers.” 

When Sandoval arrived in California for training, the first group of 29 code talkers had developed a dictionary of 211 code words. It would eventually expand to include more than 600 words (see “Code of Battle,” below). The code was so complicated that even Navajos who weren’t code talkers couldn’t understand it.

When the U.S. entered World War II, it needed a code that Japan’s skilled code breakers couldn’t decipher. If a code were cracked, the success of a battle, and the lives of troops, would be put at risk.

In 1942, a man named Philip Johnston came up with a solution. Johnston wasn’t Navajo. But he knew how complex the language was. He had grown up on a reservation where his parents were Christian missionaries. At the time, there was no widely used written version of Navajo. Very few non-Navajo people knew how to speak the language. Johnston convinced military leaders to recruit young Navajo men to become “code talkers.”

When Sandoval arrived in California for training, the first group of 29 code talkers had developed a dictionary of 211 code words. It would eventually expand to include more than 600 words (see “Code of Battle”, below). The code was so complicated that even Navajos who weren’t code talkers couldn’t understand it.

The Navajo code—and the heroism of the code talkers—was kept secret long after the war ended, in case the code was needed again. The government finally declassified the code in 1968. In 2001, Sandoval and the other code talkers received medals from the U.S. Congress for their brave service. To this day, the Navajo code is the only spoken U.S. military code that has never been cracked.

“Many have tried throughout the world to break that code,” Sandoval says. “No one can.” 

The Navajo code—and the heroism of the code talkers—was kept secret long after the war ended, in case the code was needed again. The government finally declassified the code in 1968. In 2001, Sandoval and the other code talkers received medals from the U.S. Congress for their brave service. To this day, the Navajo code is the only spoken U.S. military code that has never been cracked.

“Many have tried throughout the world to break that code,” Sandoval says. “No one can.” 

1. How does the first paragraph contribute to the reader’s understanding of the article?

2. What problem did Philip Johnston solve? What was his solution?

3. When did the U.S. government declassify the Navajo code? Why was it kept secret for so long?

4. How does the sidebar “Code of Battle” help the reader better understand the article?

1. How does the first paragraph contribute to the reader’s understanding of the article?

2. What problem did Philip Johnston solve? What was his solution?

3. When did the U.S. government declassify the Navajo code? Why was it kept secret for so long?

4. How does the sidebar “Code of Battle” help the reader better understand the article?