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Monday, October 24, 2011

The Unbroken Code

During World War II, the American military was having a lot of trouble sending coded messages in the Pacific war theater, because the Japanese seemed to be able to easily break almost any code they came up with. An ingenious answer to this problem was to use a code based on the Navajo language! Navajo has no alphabet, and few people outside of the Navajo Nation can speak the language. It has sounds not found in languages such as English or Japanese, and its grammar is also very different. It was the perfect basis for a new code, and the Navajo Code Talkers unit was formed. Their code was not written down anywhere, and they had to do their work from memory. They transmitted hundreds and hundreds of messages perfectly, and their code was never broken. Their work was considered to be so important that it was kept secret until 1968. Finally, in 2001, they received the recognition they so richly deserved - Congressional Medals of Honor.

To learn more about these brave men, go to their official website.

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