This website was created as an 8th grade Social Studies project.
Students created fictional personas based on research
Students created fictional personas based on research
Philip Johnston's Idea
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/3/9/23391306/5336314.jpg)
Philip Johnston originally came up with the idea to use the Navajo language to form a code. He fought in World War I, and wanted to help with the war effort in World War II even though he was not physically suited for fighting in a war anymore.
Philip Johnston was one of the few whites who could speak Navajo at the time the war started. His parents were Protestant missionaries to the Navajo, so he moved to the reservation when he was four years old. When the war started, he was a civil engineer in Los Angelos.
When Philip Johnston heard that an unbreakable code was needed, he had an idea. He knew that the Choctaw language had been used as a code in World War I, and he thought that the Navajo language would be perfect for a code because of it's many complications. The Navajo was also the biggest tribe in the United States, with more than 55,000 members. This would make it easier to find men of military age who could speak both Navajo and English. He went to Camp Elliot near San Diego in early 1942 to present the code to the Marine Corps.
Philip Johnston was one of the few whites who could speak Navajo at the time the war started. His parents were Protestant missionaries to the Navajo, so he moved to the reservation when he was four years old. When the war started, he was a civil engineer in Los Angelos.
When Philip Johnston heard that an unbreakable code was needed, he had an idea. He knew that the Choctaw language had been used as a code in World War I, and he thought that the Navajo language would be perfect for a code because of it's many complications. The Navajo was also the biggest tribe in the United States, with more than 55,000 members. This would make it easier to find men of military age who could speak both Navajo and English. He went to Camp Elliot near San Diego in early 1942 to present the code to the Marine Corps.
Putting it into Action
At first, the Marines were reluctant to accept Johnston's idea, but Johnston was undeterred. He brought in four Navajos, put them in different rooms, and had them translate messages from English to Navajo, send them to a Navajo in a different room, and translate the messages back to English. The Marines were amazed at how efficient the Navajos were at communications, and agreed to recruit 30 Navajos for a "piolit program".
Even after the Marines agreed to use Navajo, there was a lot of work to be done before the Navajo language could make a suitable code. At first, the Navajo were reluctant to participate in a "white man's war", but this problem was quickly overcome when the chairman of the Tribal Council Chee Dodge sent out a call for recruits. The Navajo have no experience with modern warfare, and have to go through basic training before they can even begin to work on the code. The Navajo language didn't have words for military terms or modern military equipment. Words would have to be combined, and new words would have to be created, before the code could be complete.
Even after the Marines agreed to use Navajo, there was a lot of work to be done before the Navajo language could make a suitable code. At first, the Navajo were reluctant to participate in a "white man's war", but this problem was quickly overcome when the chairman of the Tribal Council Chee Dodge sent out a call for recruits. The Navajo have no experience with modern warfare, and have to go through basic training before they can even begin to work on the code. The Navajo language didn't have words for military terms or modern military equipment. Words would have to be combined, and new words would have to be created, before the code could be complete.
The Importance of the Code
The Allied Powers' victory over the Axis powers has often been attributed to the code that my people created for many reasons. Because of the complexity of the Navajo language, it formed a code that the Japanese could never crack. This did more than just keeping eavesdropping Japanese from discovering plans to which secrecy was instrumental or learning information that would give them a strategic advantage. In some cases, it prevented "friendly fire" because Americans knew that messages pleading them to stop firing on what were actually their own troops were not phony when voiced in Navajo, as no one not having years of experience speaking Navajo could replicate the delicate sounds of the language.The Comanche, Creek, Ojibwa, Menominee, and Hopi languages were also used as codes during the war, and they deserve credit even though none of them ever created as thorough of a code as my people.