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Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers? (Who Was?)
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About Who Were The Navajo Code
Product Description Learn how this heroic group of American Indian men created a secret, unbreakable code and helped the US win major battles during World War II in this new addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series. By the time the United States joined the Second World War in 1941, the fight against Nazi and Axis powers had already been under way for two years. In order to win the war and protect its soldiers, the US Marines recruited twenty-nine Navajo men to create a secret code that could be used to send military messages quickly and safely across battlefields. In this new book within the #1 New York Times bestelling series, author James Buckley Jr. explains how these brave and intelligent men developed their amazing code, recounts some of their riskiest missions, and discusses how the country treated them before, during, and after the war. About the Author James Buckley Jr. has written more than fifty books for kids, including Who Was Ernest Shackleton?, Who Was Roberto Clemente?, and Who Was Benedict Arnold? Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers? As loud explosions echoed off the rocky island, Samuel Holiday leaped off the landing craft as the huge metal machine slammed into the beach. Samuel was a United States Marine. And the beach was on Iwo Jima, an island in the Pacific Ocean that was held by the Japanese as they battled the United States in World War II. Bullets pinged all around Samuel, while bombs sent huge plumes of black sand into the air. Samuel did his best to walk toward a safe position, but the sand was loose and shifted constantly. Every step was a huge struggle. As he plunged ahead, he saw Marines who had been killed almost as soon as they stepped ashore, lying where they fell. Samuel clutched his rifle and shouldered the big radio on his back. He had to make it through safely. He had an important job to do. Samuel was one of the Navajo code talkers. These specially trained Marines made sure that thousands of US soldiers, sailors, ships, and planes could get their messages through safely without the Japanese being able to read them. Using their Diné language, the code talkers had become a vital part of the US Marines’ mission. Without a secure way to communicate, that mission on Iwo Jima might end in disaster. Samuel dug out a place where he was safe from bullets for the moment. He and his partner, Dan Akee, set up their radio gear. “Bil--dah--has--tanh--ya,” Samuel said over the radio. “Al--tah--je--jay yoehi ashdla!” On the other end of the call, another Navajo code talker was listening. He told his own partner what Samuel had said: “Pinned down! Attack Sector Five!” The order was passed to Marine artillery. Moments later, bombs landed in front of Samuel, destroying the secret position of the enemy soldiers. The Japanese radio operators who were also listening had no idea what Samuel had said, and their location had been exposed. Samuel and the other code talkers were in constant danger on Iwo Jima. “The [gun]fire was so intense, men were being killed all around me, and we were pinned down and couldn’t move,” remembered code talker Teddy Draper. “I kept wondering if I was going to live through the day or be killed in my foxhole.” (A foxhole is a dugout pit big enough to hold one or two soldiers.) Teddy and Samuel did live, and thanks to more than four hundred Navajo code talkers, so did thousands of their fellow Marines. For almost four years, from 1942 to 1945, the code talkers fought in battle after battle. Their unbreakable code helped make sure the enemy could not intercept military communications and that Marines were protected. The code, created using the Navajo language, was never broken. Then, for almost twenty--five years after the war ended, their story was kept as secret as their code—-but now it can be told. Chapter 1: The Navajo For more than one thousand years, Native America
