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On December 7th, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Base in Hawaii. It killed many Americans. The Americans were so angry and upset they declared war against Japan. Once they declared war they officially were in World War II.
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Philip Johnston got the idea of using the Navajo's language for a code in World War II. He presented it to Major James E. Jones. He explained that their language is very complex and it was unlike any other Indian languages. Johnston gave a presentation with a few other Navajos. At the end of the presentation everyone was impressed. After a bit it was decided to use the language.
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In 1942, U.S Marines went to the Navajo Reservation and talked to Chee Dodge, who was the chairman of the council. He liked the idea and many Navajos were excited when they heard the news. Many wanted to go and fight for their country. Twenty-nine Navajos joined.
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Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Like any other battle the Navajos worked around the clock to send messages and recieve them.
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The American troops sent a lot of men into Iwo Jima. They sent more people there than any other area.
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On August 5, 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the U.S. The Navajos' code was so hard to crack the Japanese broke down and surrendered the war.
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On August 14, 1982 Ronald Reagan assigned that day to be National Code Talkers Day.
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The original 29 Navajo Code Talkers are awarded silver medals by the President of the United States.
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The bill that honored the Navajo Code Talkers, the Congressional Gold and Silver Medals, was made into a law.
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In 2004, a sculpter named Joe started making the statues of the Code Talkers. Eight Bronze Plagues are going to be included in the monument along with 429 names of Navajo Code Talkers.
