National Navajo Code Talkers Day Honors Unbreakable Legacy
Each year on August 14, the nation pauses to recognize a unique chapter in American history—National Navajo Code Talkers Day. The observance honors the Navajo Nation members and other Native Americans who served as radio code talkers in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, using their native language to create a code that the enemy never cracked.
The origins of this extraordinary wartime tool date back to World War I, when the U.S. military first employed Native American languages, such as Choctaw, to send secure messages. But it was in World War II that the concept reached its greatest success, thanks in large part to the Navajo language’s complexity and rarity among non-Navajo speakers.
Philip Johnston, a non-Navajo who grew up on a Navajo reservation and spoke the language fluently, played a key role in the program’s creation. He recruited 29 original Navajo Code Talkers, including Charlie Sosie Begay, Roy Begay, Samuel H. Begay, Eugene Crawford, Oscar Ilthma, and Lloyd Oliver. That number grew as the war continued, with Code Talkers playing a critical role in major Code Talkers battles by transmitting rapid, accurate messages that proved impossible for the Japanese to decipher.
Their service remained a classified military secret until 1968. In 2001, the original 29 Code Talkers received Congressional Gold Medals, while the remaining members were awarded Congressional Silver Medals in recognition of their contributions.
President Ronald Reagan officially proclaimed August 14 as National Navajo Code Talkers Day in 1982, honoring not only the Navajo but also other tribes—including the Choctaw, Chippewa, Creek, and Sioux—whose members served as code talkers.
Today, the legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers lives on in books, documentaries, and museums such as the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and the Navajo Code Talker Museum in Tuba City, Arizona. Their unbreakable code remains a testament to the ingenuity, bravery, and cultural heritage that helped secure Allied victory.
