KGUN 9NewsLocal News

Actions

Navajo Code Talkers honored in virtual ceremony

Posted at 5:32 PM, Aug 14, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-14 20:32:08-04

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allied forces covertly communicate during World War II were honored in a ceremony Friday.

Code Talkers Day is celebrated annually on Aug. 14, the date of the Japanese surrender marking the end of the War.

The ceremony is typically held in person but was taken online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of Navajos serving in the U.S. Marine Corps transmitted messages using a code based on the Navajo language.

The code developed by an original group of 29 Navajos was used to confound Japanese forces.

It was never broken.

Only a handful of Code Talkers are still alive.