Jacob Businger
Mr. Jones
GSW1110
3 December, 2015
The Navajo Code Talker of World War 2
This event brought the speaker in to speak because it was Native American history month. It was put on by the Ethnic Studies department as a part of BGSU diversity and inclusion. This event is important because Bowling Green State University is a very diverse school. This is event was well attended, as it filled up an entire lecture hall. The Navajo Code talkers of world war two was a good event. It was very well informed and there was a lot of information given. Overall, the event went well. It brought the Navajo culture to the campus, in addition the speaker delivered the topic very well. Finally it tied into a lot of classes that are offered at the university.
The speaker talked about the code talkers during the Second World War. The Navajo people have been a part of this country since its beginning, and were still around during the times of the war. The Navajo language was more complex than the other Native American Languages. It was for this reason that the code worked. During the First World War, the Germans were able to easily decipher the American codes. During this war, the Americans used the Choctaw language to send codes. This was credited to bringing the First World War to the end. However, after the war the Germans sent over well-known professors to study the Native Americans in the eastern part of the United States. This proved to be a good decision because shortly after the end of world war one, world war two began. However, in this war it was the Japanese that were able to easily break the code of the Americans. Since most of the codes were being sent out from the western United States, It was easier for the Japanese to break the codes. This was because there were a significant amount of Japanese people who lived on the west coast, so they could easily know how to speak English. This posed a problem because if the Japanese knew the American codes, they were one step ahead of them in the battlefield. Another problem was that the codes took a long time to be decoded.
Due to this being the case, the Americans were losing soldiers quickly. They needed to come up with a code that would not only confuse the enemy, but also be quick to decode. That’s when a man by the name of Phillip Johnston came up with a solution. He came up with the idea of using the Navajo language to send code into battle. He was raised on a Navajo reservation as a child, so he knew the language and believed it could work. The army agreed to give him and the language a trial run. In this trial run they would send and decode six messages. They would do this in Navajo and in the traditional way to see which way was faster and more effective. The traditional method took over an hour to decode, while the Navajo way took only forty seconds! Not only was this was extremely fast, but it was also very confusion for even American intelligence.
The United States army agreed that they would use the Navajo language for their codes. There were only twenty nine of the Navajo people who were in the army called the “Original twenty nine”. At first when the United States army went onto the reservation, none of the Navajo people showed up to be a part of this program. This was because the Navajo did not believe that they should fight for the United States. It was not until the army went to the radio station when people started to show up. The radio was their only way of entertainment, so everyone listened to it on the reservation. After that, many men showed up to take the test, to determine how well they were in English and Navajo. Two hundred men showed up to take the test, and the army only took thirty of them. None of them had a birth certificate, but it was believed the youngest was fifteen and the oldest was thirty five. It is not known what happened to one of the thirty men to make it twenty nine.
After they were selected, they had to go through a vigorous training session. They first had to go through basic training, just like every other marine did at the time. They were bussed to basic training, but were not able to tell anyone where they were or why they were there- not even their own families! After basic training, they went on to train and learn the codes. They spend five hours a day in a classroom and were only allowed to leave to use the bathroom. At the end they had two hundred and eleven codes. When it was finally time for battle, three groups of ten were sent on boats. When they arrived at the battle, four would stay on the boat to relay the code, and six would go out into the field. This language even confused the Japanese and was a key part in helping end the war. These codes were also used in Vietnam and Korea.
This event was relevant because it was about the history of Native American people, and Bowling Green is a diverse school. In terms of originality, I had never heard of an event like this one before. I know there is a movie about the topic, but I have never heard about a speaker on it. It is a great idea because it gives people the ability to interact and ask questions with a speaker who knows about it. This speaker also was helpful to the students on campus. For the population of students on campus, they were not alive during the time of the Second World War. This helps give students the ability to learn more about the war. In addition it sheds light on a subject about the war that usually goes undiscussed. Before the talk, I had no idea that this was a part of the war.
The speaker, Dr. Spintz, was very good. Originally, it was going to be somebody else, but they could not make it, so he had to step in and give the presentation instead. He had good credentials that lead the audience to believe that he knew what he was talking about. He worked with Native American people, and in addition to this he also cited three books as sources in his presentation. He was also a good speaker because he was very knowledgeable about what he was speaking on. It was clear that he knew a lot about the topic, and enjoyed the topic as well. He was a very good speaker, and did not seem to have any problems giving the presentation.
Finally, not only was the speech very informative but it also tied in well with many classes in the university. It was historical, so it tied into many of the history classes that are offered at the university. Not only did it tie into these classes, but it also tied into culture classes as well. This class was about the Navajo people, which plays a part in the cultural diversity within the United States. It could also be a part of the Ethnic studies courses as well.
The event was a very good idea by the university. I was overall very impressed with it. It taught me many thing about world war two that I did not know before. I enjoyed the event as well, and was engaged the whole time. In addition, the community received the vent well also. The room was full of people eager to learn more about the Navajo code talkers of world war two. Also, many questions were asked and it was clear the audience was engaged the whole time. Some similar events that could be held could be things that have to do with culture and the world wars again. I believe world war two is a topic that interests a lot of people, and when diversity is tied in, more people will want to know about it. For example, another speech could be how Japanese or German Americans were treated during the time of the Second World War. If this event was offered again, or something similar to it, I would not hesitate to attend.