The Wind Talkers, Their Code Couldn't Be Cracked

The Last of the Navajo Code Talkers Has Passed Away


The last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers of World War II has died. Chester Nez, died this morning at the age of 93. ht/John Pembroke

The story of the Navajo Code Talkers begins in 1940 when a small group of Chippewas and Oneidas became a part of the radio communications 32nd Infantry Division. Soon after, Sac and Fox tribes joined in the ranks as combat radiomen. The complexity of Navajo linguistics allowed it to become an ideal choice to be used in code due to the lack of documentation made available for learning to speak the language and ability for the same words to mean multiple things based on sound. The Japanese were unable to crack this code for those very reasons.