Confusing the enemy: Navajo Codetalker brings past alive for today’s Airmen Published Dec. 7, 2006 By Senior Airman Stacia Zachary Co-Editor POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Clad in bright yellow and brandishing a red garrison hat adorned with military pins and a ceremonial necklace, the distinguished speaker humbly identified himself to the audience as someone who served in World War II. Arthur Hubbard took a moment to thank the servicemembers in uniform today and related that he, too, had served in the military -- as a Navajo Codetalker. At 19, Mr. Hubbard went through Marine Corps boot camp and then training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., to be a Marine Corps Navajo Codetalker linguist. He was hand-picked for enlistment into the role of codetalker because of his ability to write, speak, communicate and translate both English and Navajo. The United States had formed its own brand of code similar in idea to the German Enigma. Instead of using a machine to convert known language into a coded form, the men who become known as codetalkers used the language of an American Indian tribe to call ciphered transmissions over the radio to one another. Although the Enigma was eventually broken, the Navajo language remains the only language to never be cracked by the enemy. Men from all areas of the Navajo Reservation were selected for the training. Originally, 29 men were picked from Marine Corps boot camps and sent to communications school for training in the code. Although Mr. Hubbard was not one of the original 29, he did have the opportunity. "I was asked to be a part of the original group but I could not accept the invitation because of transportation conflicts," he said. "I was working more than 90 miles away and the distance caused me to stay away from the war a little longer than many. Towards the end of the war, I was drafted and the military gave me transportation to the war." After training Mr. Hubbard, like most other codetalkers, was sent to the South Pacific. There are many stories about how Americans were fighting against their own due to Japanese trickery in changing radio transmissions. Not until the codetalkers were put on line did the U.S. military find a successful countermeasure. Once they were proven in battle, the codetalkers were used more frequently. At one point, it has been recorded that the codetalkers sent more than 800 radio transmissions over the wire in a 2-day period without one error in transmission. Although the codetalkers from World War II are the most famous, there were also a group who predated them. In World War I, there was a group of eight Choctaw Indians who helped win a key closing battle in the Meusse Argonne Campaign, the final German push to win the war. Although the men serving in the American regiment were not formally trained in code talking, they ended up saving the day. Immersed in a battle completely surrounded by the German Army and losing messengers to them as well as having their coded transmissions deciphered, a commander of the company decided to try an idea: have the Choctaw men spaced out among the battle regiments and transfer orders and positioning intelligence over the field telephones using the Choctaw language. The men and their language were used only this once but gave the U.S. military an idea for future conflicts. When the United States entered World War II, it enlisted the help of not only Navajo Indians but also men from the Choctaw, Hopi, Comanche, Kiowa, Winnebago, Seminole and Cherokee tribes. The Navajo language was made into the main language which would be used as a secret code. After the war, all the codetalkers were ordered to remain silent about what their mission and role in fighting the enemies of World War II. "It's not something I talked about - (being a codetalker) was just another part of my life journey," said Mr. Hubbard. "There was finally something I could give to my country ... my people and I were finally useful. We were proud of that." While Mr. Hubbard maintains that his role as a codetalker was just as important as any other job during the war, he does concede that remembering who you are can sometimes lead to the success of others. "I learned that war is not good but if you must fight, fight with honor and remember who you are," he said. "Even when I was lost, I remembered who I was and that got me home and hopefully my language got others home, too." Many codetalkers were also active during the Korean War. After that the United States developed technology to keep communications secure therefore rendering the codetalkers archaic. While they may no longer have a service the military requires, their story is one which will continue to serve as both a source of inspiration and remembrance to servicemembers today. "We need to remember what these men did," said Senior Master Sgt. Darreld Pearce, 43rd Civil Engineer Squadron. "They have an amazing story to tell and we all can learn a lot from them, especially their humility and their dedication to protecting this country."