Showing results for "The Navajo Code Talkers" in History

The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. His name wasn’t Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought to rid him of...

Dan Akee was part of the Navajo code talker units of the US Marine Corps that relayed radio and phone messages in their native dialect during World War II operations. The method was fast and indecipherable to enemy eavesdroppers, as Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity—with its syntax, tonal qualities, and various dialects—making it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest. The following are two recordings from code talker Dan Akee.