Navajo Code Talkers

Thanks in large part to the Nicolas Cage film Windtalkers (VL Online-10/02), the incredible story of the WWII Navajo "code talkers" has found a larger audience. With the Germans breaking Allied codes almost as soon as they were created (resulting in the loss of many lives, since the Germans were aware of Allied movements almost simultaneously with field commanders receiving the orders to march), the son of a Protestant minister who had grown up on the Navajo Indian Reservation approached the War Department with a unique idea: to train a special unit of Navajo Indians who would use their virtually undecipherable language to send and receive messages. Although initially skeptical and mistrustful, the powers that be were soon swayed, and the early successes of the Navajos led to the creation of a secret cadre of Indians sent primarily to the Pacific theater, where they completely baffled Japanese efforts to break their code. Far superior to the feature film that offers a mere sliver of the Navajo code talkers' story, this is recommended, especially for those who don't already own Navajo Code Talkers: The Epic Story (VL-9/95). Aud: C, P. (J. Carlson)