USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Because they not only were speaking Navajo but they were talking in “CODE”. Words used meant something entirely different than the straight out translation. And only the members of the “Code Talkers” knew what the words meant when used that way.

Detailed explanation-2: -Because the Japanese had broken all the codes sent over the radio waves, the Marines were desperate to find a secure way to communicate vital information with precious little time. After several successful tests, the Navajo language was approved as a communication code.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Navajo language has no definite rules and a tone that is guttural. The language was unwritten at the time, notes Carl Gorman, one of the 29 original Navajo code talkers. “You had to base it solely on the sounds you were hearing, ” he says. “This made it very difficult for others to understand."

Detailed explanation-4: -However, the Marine Corps took the code to the next level and made it virtually unbreakable by further encoding the language with word substitution. During the course of the war, about 400 Navajos participated in the code talker program.

Detailed explanation-5: -One reason that Navajo Code Talkers were not recognized until much later is because the program was secret and classified by the military. The Navajo were ordered to keep their wartime jobs secret. It wasn’t until 1968 that the Navajo Code Talkers program was declassified by the military.