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Webposted April 10, 2002
by: Kay Kellam

In war, there are secrets that need to be kept – and heroes that need to keep them.
Find out all about those secrets -- and the heroes that kept them June 14, 2002

What They Say:  
On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan.  For the next several years, U.S. forces were fully engaged in battle throughout the Pacific, taking over islands one by one in a slow progression towards mainland Japan.  During this brutal campaign, the Japanese were continually able to break coded military transmissions, dramatically slowing U.S. progress.

In 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines & trained to use their language as code.  In John Woo’s Windtalkers, written by John Rice & Joe Batteer, Marine Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to protect Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) – a Navajo code talker, the Marines’ new secret weapon.  Enders’ orders are to protect his code talker, but if Yahzee should fall into enemy hands, he’s to “protect the code at all costs.”  Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can’t protect his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code?  The Navajo code was the only one never broken by the Japanese, & is considered to have been key in winning the war.

A brief history of the Navajo Language being used as a code is available at the official Windtalkers website, here's an excerpt:

One of America's most extraordinary episodes of cryptography, the art & science of coding & decoding, used the ancient language of a Native American tribe & their courageous warriors to advance America's cause in World War II. The secret language of the Navajo code talkers provided one of the most unusual advantages to the United States military during that fateful conflict. In a successful attempt to defend their land, the Navajos used their unbreakable coded language to confuse the enemy with unusual sounds. They did this in spite of the fact that elements of the American military had harshly treated many of their forebears.

Philip Johnston was the man who proposed that the language of the Navajos be used as the basis of a communication code during World War II. Johnston did a lot of work with the Navajo Indians. His fluency in the language helped him to see the many military applications. Johnston knew that the unwritten Navajo language would be virtually impossible for the enemy to decipher because of its syntax, tonal qualities, & dialects (Molnar 1). The Japanese were successful in breaking codes in the past, but they were never able to crack this one.

What I Say:

            If the movie can live up to the trailer we are in for an impressive ride!

a-chi klizzie ah-jah a-woh cha-gee tsa-e-donin-ee ah-nah ah-jah dibeh-yazzie tkin tsah klizzie ma-e a-kha dibeh-yazzie klizzie-yazzie klesh gah-tso-big ah-tad a-kha a-chin tsah tse-nill ah-jad ne-ahs-jah a-keh-di-glini ah-jah di tsin-tliti a-kha a-keh-di-glini tkin ah-nah da-ahl-zhin 

To decode the above text pay a visit to the official website for Windtalkers, & under interactive select Code Cypher paste the message above in & select decode & click translate.

(C) Kay Kellam, 2001 for PopArtsPlace.com
Prior to having her first novel, A Life to Di For, published author Kay Kellam enjoyed a variety of jobs that helped to shape her outlook on the world, and her profession.   more...

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