WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Code Talkers, whose code based on their native tongue was never cracked by the Japanese during World War II, were honored Saturday in a ceremony that many said was long overdue.
Thousands of people watched as more than 300 Congressional Silver Medals were presented to the surviving Code Talkers.
The Code Talkers were honored for a code that, indecipherable by the Japanese, was credited with saving thousands of lives and turning the tide of decisive battles in the Pacific.
"It feels great," 76-year-old Samuel Smith said after receiving his medal. "I think I finally became an American."
Smith, of Stanolind, N.M., said he didn't ask for the job or the award.
"I'm proud to have done what I did," he said.
The initial 29 Code Talkers who created the code were honored with Congressional Gold Medals last summer in Washington. Those honored Saturday joined the group later in the war.
"From this day forward we will continue to remember the courage and sacrifice of the Navajo Code Talkers," said Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begay.
The American military began experimenting with Indian languages for secure communications during World War I, when the Army employed Choctaws to encrypt messages, using their native language.
During World War II, additional tribes and their languages were tested, according to the National Security Agency. These included Commanches, Kiowas, Winnebagos, Seminoles, Hopis and Cherokees, as well as Choctaws.
But the best-known example was the effort by the Marine Corps and members of the Navajo Tribe of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The corps refined and encoded the process, using Navajos exclusively because the complex Navajo language was little known outside the Southwest.
The Talkers added word substitutions to add further difficulty to their code. For example, a colonel became "silver eagle," which was translated into Navajo as "ataah-besh-le-gai." A submarine became "besh-lo," Navajo for "iron fish," and a bomber was "jay-sho," or buzzard in Navajo.
The Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy about their roles in the war. It wasn't until 1968 that the government declassified the project.
Their work is at the center of a Hollywood film due in theaters in coming weeks. "Windtalkers" will star Academy Award-winner Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater.
Contributing: Deseret News