A History of Military Service: Native Americans in the U.S. Military Yesterday and Today

Maj Cynthia Y.
..."Navajo Code Talkers Were Crucial to U.S. Victory in World War I

In recent years, the Navajo Code Talkers have become legendary for creating a special code using their indigenous language to transmit sensitive information during World War II. The Navajo people’s unique and largely unwritten language made it an ideal fit for creating a code, and 29 Navajo men initially joined the Marine Corps for this highly sensitive operation. By the end of the war, there were approximately 400 Native Code Talkers in the military from the Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota, Meskwaki and Comanche tribes, all translating encrypted messages in their native tongues from the front lines in real time as they received them.

Although Japanese forces were incredibly adept at breaking codes throughout the war, they never broke the Navajo Code. It was this code that helped the United States win the war in the Pacific in 1945."...

There was a Code Talker at our Pow Wow back when I was a kid. Charlie Chibitty was his name, I think. My dad was full blood and a Marine in Korea. My great-great grandfather was the leader of Delaware warriors known as the 2nd Kansas Home Guard. There's a road named after him between Eudora, KS and Lawrence, KS. He dealt with Quantrill's raiders as well. Had a full blood cousin named Sumpter who was a Green Beret. I guess my life was already planned out.