Thesis

In May of 1942, near San Diego, California, 29 Native Americans passed through basic training. They were sent to Camp Elliott to develop a code after Phillip Johnston, a man raised on a Navajo reserve, had the idea to use the Navajo language to encrypt American communications. The code would give American forces an edge over inferior Imperial Japanese codes. This would be the defining factor of the Pacific Theatre and the island-hopping campaign, allowing for American victory over Imperial Japan.