Secrecy is a huge part of military success.

You want to be able to communicate with your own forces without the enemy finding out what your plans are.

As America entered World War II, they were in need of a method of communication that couldn't be cracked by Germany or Japan.

They found the answer they were looking for in languages of Native Americans.

Learn more about Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American languages used in World War II

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Audible. My audio book recommendation today is Code Talker, the first and only

memoir by one of the original Navajo Code Talkers of World War II by Chester Nez and

Judith Shee's Avila. His name wasn't Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten.

And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language as the teachers sought to rid him of his cultures and traditions.

But discrimination didn't stop Chester from answering the call to defend his country after

Pearl Harbor.

For the Navajo of Oisman warriors and his upbringing on a New Mexico reservation gave him the strength,

both physical and mental, to excel as a marine.

During World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its

Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they

created the only unbroken code in Modern Warfare and helped assure victory for the

United States over Japan and the South Pacific.

You can get a free one month trial to Audible and two free audio books by going to Audible Trial

dot com slash everything everywhere or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

The idea of using Native American languages as a form of military code didn't begin in World War

too. It actually began in the first World War.

The Germans during World War I had no problem

...