#FlashbackFriday: 1984—Navajo Code Talkers Visit Exchange HQ

On Oct. 19 of this year, John Kinsel Sr., one of the last Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, died at age 107. His death and the beginning of National Native American Heritage Month inspire this look back at a visit to the Exchange by Navajo Code Talkers, a group of Marines whose encrypted messages based on the Navajo language helped lead to U.S. victory in the Pacific during the war.

After the U.S. entered WWII, a civil engineer named Philip Johnston came forward with the idea of creating a code based on the Navajo language. Johnston, whose parents were missionaries, was raised among the Navajo and spoke their language fluently. He believed that a nearly indecipherable code could be established to protect American communications from Japanese cryptologists. The U.S. Marines accepted his suggestion.

The Marines received permission to recruit Navajos as communicators for a test project. The pilot group of 29 men—the 382nd Platoon—went through basic training and training in communications such as Morse code and semaphores. In addition, they set up the original Navajo code

In 1984, three of the code talkers– Harold Foster of Fort Defiance, Arizona; George Kirk of Flagstaff, Arizona; and Albert Smith of Crown Point, New Mexico (shown from left in above photo)—came to Exchange headquarters in Dallas for what was then known as an American Indian Awareness event.

The number of code talkers grew throughout the war and the code was continually being refined. “We were assigned to different divisions in the Marines and based in small groups on Pacific islands so the divisions could talk to each other through us,” Kirk told HQ associates.

Foster added: “There were no notebooks in the field — all the code was memorized.” To make memorization easier, the code used words that had a connection to life on the reservation. A few examples: The Navajo word for “chicken hawk” signified dive bomber; “whale” meant battleship; “our mother,” America.

Despite their contributions, none of the men was promoted above the rank of private first class. The Navajo code talkers’ contributions during the war were a well-kept secret until about 1968, Smith said. At that time, the government lifted the security restrictions surrounding the group’s activities. “Until then,” Smith said, “even our relatives didn’t know about our service.”

Exchange Post archives include other instances of Navajo Code Talker visits, usually at Exchanges in the Southwest. But the HQ visit is the only time the Code Talkers are identified by name. Foster died in 1995; Kirk in 1999; and Smith in 2013. According to The Associated Press, with Kinsel’s death in October, only two Navajo Code Talkers are still alive: Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald and Thomas H. Begay. For a deeper dive into the history of Navajo Code Talkers, check out the Library of Congress research guide here.

The 1984 program—which also included a presentation by Brick Wall, director of business enterprises for the Cherokee Nation; dancers with Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw backgrounds; and Kiowa singers—was put together by the HQ American Indian Committee.

The committee’s chairman was James French, whose son, Exchange Executive Vice President and Chief Logistics Officer Alan French, is executive champion of Nation’s Network, the Exchange special emphasis group committed to educating Exchange associates on the history of Native Americans and the Federal Indian Trust Responsibility–a legal obligation requiring the U.S. to protect the rights, assets, and resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Associates interested in joining a special emphasis program or who want to know more about the Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion Office can click here to visit the SharePoint portal.

Sources: Exchange Post archives; The Associated Press; Geni; Arizona Daily Sun; the Library of Congress