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What I like about the code talkers is: the Japanese knew it was Navajo. But even that wasn't enough, because they used particular code words, so even if you kne
by Cupertino95014 2y ago
What I like about the code talkers is: the Japanese knew it was Navajo. But even that wasn't enough, because they used particular code words, so even if you knew Navago it didn't solve the problem.
- xivzgrev 2y agoIt wasn’t so much what words they used. The Japanese just didn’t have any way of translating / understanding Navajo. Kind of like you may hear a language, and recognize what it is, but no idea what they are saying. The Navajo language was not written at the time, and it’s very different than others and subtle differences in tone can make all the difference. Their written notes of what they heard were probably generally inaccurate which made breaking the code impossible (vs enigma which was exactly copied, and the output is German, they just then needed to break it)
- Cupertino95014 2y agoYou could imagine a top-secret Japanese effort to infiltrate the US and kidnap a Navajo person. Might not work, of course, but there are a lot of Navajos. But even that wouldn't have worked.
- ahazred8ta 2y agoA Navajo was captured in the Philippines at the beginning of the war, and interrogated. It didn't help. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kieyoomia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kieyoomia There were Cherokee, Choctaw and Lakota code talkers in World War I.
- sinkasapa 2y agoThe code talkers didn't just talk in Navajo but utilized a code system based on Navajo [1]. There were also code talkers who spoke other Native American languages. 1. https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-the-unbreakable-code/ https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-th...
- yencabulator 2y agoFiguring out that hummingbird means fighter plane isn't the challenging part. Getting to reliably recognize the hummingbird word sound is.