"In 1942, there were about 50,000 Navajo tribe members. As of 1945, about 540 Navajos had served as Marines.

From 375 to 420 of those trained as Code Talkers; the rest served in other capacities.

Navajo Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945.

Described as one of America's most valuable secret weapons, there were no written materials that could be captured, and it was the only code that the Japanese never broke.

Navajo remained potentially valuable as code even after the war."

Get the Story:
Betsey Bruner: The important contribution of the Navajos (The Arizona Daily Sun 5/30)