Thread by @CIA

#Navajo Code Talkers & the Unbreakable Code
#WWII
#nativeamericanheritagemonth
#nahm
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During #WWI, Choctaw language was used for secret tactical messages. It was instrumental in successful surprise attack against Germans
#nahm

#WWII: #Navajo Marines developed a code from their native language that stumped cryptanalysts. Code protected valuable intelligence.
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1942: Philip Johnston read about the military trying to come up w another code using Native American languages. He suggested #Navajo.
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Johnston grew up w missionary parents on a #Navajo reservation. Was asked at age 9 to be interpreter for Navajo delegation sent to DC
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May 1942: first 29 recruited Navajos arrived at Camp Elliott near San Diego. Their first task? Develop a #Navajo code.
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#Navajo language was a perfect option as a code because it was not written & very few people who aren’t of Navajo origin can speak it
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@USMC took the code to the next level & made #Navajo code virtually unbreakable by further encoding the language w word substitution.
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#Navajo recruits began developing the code by taking words from their language & applying them to implements of war.
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The initial #Navajo code consisted of 211 vocabulary terms, which expanded to 411 over the course of the war.
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Code Talkers were used in every major @USMC operation in Pacific theater. Primary job: transmit tactical info over telephone & radio.
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Battle of Iwo Jima: 6 #Navajo Code Talkers operated continuously & sent more than 800 messages - all transmitted without error.
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During the course of the war, ~400 Navajos participated in code talker program.
#nahm
#nativeamericanheritagemonth
bit.ly/2f1zGRL