Thread by @CIA

In recognition of Native American Heritage Month (#NAHM), we’re revisiting the incredible story of #Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code:

bit.ly/2f1zGRL

During the course of #WWII, about 400 #Navajos participated in the code talker program. The first 29 recruited arrived at Camp Elliott in May 1942. One of their first tasks was to develop a Navajo code from their native language. Code protected valuable #intelligence.

#Navajo was the perfect option as a code because it is not written and very few people, who aren’t of Navajo origin, can speak it. However, the U.S. Marines took the code to the next level and made it virtually unbreakable by further encoding the language with word substitution.

The initial #Navajo code consisted of 211 vocabulary terms, which expanded to 411 over the course of the war. You can read the entire dictionary of terms here:

bit.ly/2f1v9ih

#Navajo Code Talkers were used in every major @USMC operation in the Pacific theater. Their primary job was to transmit tactical info over telephone and radio. At the invasion of Iwo Jima, six Code Talkers operated continuously and sent more than 800 messages. #NAHM