Dangers and Challenges
The Navajo faced many problems as they joined War.The Navajo were giving an immense success to the US with the unbreakable communication.The enemies wanted to get rid of them.
Navajo Marine,Carl Gorman,observes on a hill
When the Navajo were on the field they would be confused as enemies and sometimes were shot. If enemies found the Navajo they would kill them. The Navajo were extremely valuable thereupon they were sent with bodyguards to be protected. The Navajo risked their life to provide an unbreakable code that resulted in the victory of the United States.
Station Hype,Navajo hides to provide efficient communication
Even though some Navajo chose to be part of the Marines, some were forced to join.When the Navajo were recruited they were told to keep their job a secret. Their family members didn't know about their contribution to the war. This created a security that the code would remain unbreakable. Once the war ended they still maintained the secret. The US wanted to have the Navajo code as a secret for any potential war. The code remained classified until 1968. After that, the Navajo started gaining recognition slowly.
The Navajo were treated unfairly and were told to never speak their language. They had to learn english and were treated with disrespect. During the war on the other hand they were appreciated for their language and ability to create an unbreakable code.
Keith Little who was a Navajo Code Talker during World War II expressed his frustrutation during the WWII Reunion in 2004.
"We were forbidden to talk Navajo language up to World War II and here you see what it did for the war is the language,the Navajo language."
~ Keith Little
Library of Congress, WWII Reunion: Navajo Code Talkers 1
