Learning a new language is hard, and when the Duolingo bird is outside your bedroom threatening your family unless you keep up your streak and do your German lessons today - it can be a bit overwhelming. But when it comes to the Native American Navajo language, even the Duolingo bird misses some of his lessons. That's because this incredible language is so complicated that if you weren't ingrained in the Navajo culture for your whole life you would have a terrible time even asking what time of the day it is.
Thanks to its complicated nature, the Navajo language was perfect for encrypting messages. And so when the Second World War made its way to the shores of the United Sates, it's no wonder that a program to use Navajo men to encrypt and decode messages for wartime communication was implemented. Enter the Navajo Code Talkers, a unit initially comprised of 30 native speakers but would rise to well over 300 by the war's end. And their mission was as simple as it was vital - transmit messages, and make sure the enemy cannot decode them.
Join Arron this week as he explores the origins of using the Navajo as code talkers, dives into how the language itself worked, and shows how the language was morphed into a code that was so effective that it remains the only verbal code during the Second World War to never have been broken.
This episode was presented by Arron Keegan and joined by Hayley O'Connor and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Make sure to follow us on our social media pages! Just search for "That's Old News" on Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter, or head to the linktree in the podcast's about section!
Chapters:
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(0:00) Intro
(05:25) Episode Start - The Navajo Code Talkers
(06:34) A Quick History of Relaying Messages in War
(12:37) Native American Code Talkers
(13:46) Philip Jonhston
(17:12) Forming the Navajo Code Talkers and Trials
(20:49) Learning (or at least understanding) Navajo
(31:48) Understanding the Navajo Code
(34:58) Some Country Names Translated
(40:12) Some Thoughts on the Code
(43:40) Wartime Example and A Navajo Speaking the Code
(52:23) Expansion of the Navajo Code Talkers
(58:22) Post-War Recognition
(01:02:41) Post Show Banter
