Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 01:15:48 +0100
From: Martin Briscoe
Subject: PHONETIC ALPHABET
I was following a discussion in soc.history.wwii about Navajo
Codetalkers in WWII
Wonder if these count as "phonetic alphabets" !
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Martin Briscoe
Fort William
martin.briscoe@zetnet.co.uk
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The Native American Almanac
WORLD WAR I AND II - CHOCTAW CODE TALKERS
In the closing days of World War I, fourteen Choctaw Indian men in the
Army's Thirty-Sixth Division, trained to use their language, helped the
American Expeditionary Force win several key battles in the Meuse-Argonne
Campaign in France, the final big German push of the war. The fourteen
Choctaw Code Talkers were Albert Billy, Mitchell Bobb, Victor Brown, Ben
Caterby, James Edwards, Tobias Frazer, Ben Hampton, Solomon Louis, Pete
Maytubby, Jeff Nelson, Joseph Oklahombi, Robert Taylor, Calvin Wilson, and
Walter Veach.
With at least one Choctaw man placed in each field company headquarters,
they handled military communications by field telephone, translated radio
messages into the Choctaw language, and wrote field orders to be carried by
"runners" between the various companies. The German army, which captured
about one out of four messengers, never deciphered the messages written in
Choctaw.
During the annual Choctaw Labor Day Festival in 1986, Chief Hollis E.
Roberts presented posthumous Choctaw Nation Medals of Valor to the families
of the Code Talkers. This was the first official recognition the Choctaw
Code Talkers had been given. On November 3, 1989, in recognition of the
important role the Choctaw Code Talkers played during World War I, the
French government presented Chief Roberts with the "Chevalier de L'Ordre
National du Merite" (the Knight of the National Order of Merit), the
highest honor France can bestow.
A January 23, 1919, memorandum from the commanding officer of the 142nd
Infantry headquarters to the commanding general of the Thirty-Sixth
Division revealed some of the code: "The Indian for 'Big Gun' was used to
indicate artillery. 'Little Gun shoot fast' was substituted for machine
gun, and the battalions were indicated by one, two, or three grains of
corn."
The Choctaws were recognized as the first to use their native language as
an unbreakable code in World War I. The Choctaw language was again used in
World War II. Choctaws conversed in their language over field radios to
coordinate military positions, giving exact details and locations without
fear of German interception.
WORLD WAR II - COMANCHE CODE TALKERS
After induction into the army, seventeen Comanche men were selected for the
Signal Corps because of their unique language. The Comanche Signal Corp
included Charles Chibitty, Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Forrest
Kassanavoid, Wellington Mihecoby, Edward Nahquaddy, Perry Noyabad, Clifford
Otitovo, Simmons Parker, Melvin Permansu, Elhin Red Elk, Roderick Red Elk,
Larry Saupitty, Morris (Sunrise) Tabbyetchy, Tony Tabbytite, Ralph Wahnee,
and Willie Yackeschi. Trained in all phases of communication, these members
of the army's Fourth Signal Division used the Comanche language to relay
important messages that could not be understood or decoded by the enemy
during World War II. The Comanche phrase posah-tai-vo meaning "crazy white
man" was used for Adolph Hitler. Since the Comanches had a word for
airplane but not for bomber, the Code Talkers came up with the comanche
phrase for "pregnant airplane."
Working in teams with regiments in the field, these men coded messages back
to division headquarters where another member of the Signal Corps received
and decoded the message. On September 12, 1944, the commanding general
commended the Fourth Signal Corp for outstanding service between June 6,
1944, and September 1944. The French government honored the Signal Corps,
along with the Choctaw Code Talkers, on November 3, 1989, by presenting the
"Chevalier de L'Ordre National du Merite" to the Comanche tribal chief.
Three surviving Comanche Code Talkers, Charles Chibitty, Roderick Red Elk,
and Forrest Kassanavoid attended the ceremony.
WORLD WAR II - NAVAJO CODE TALKERS
The Navajo code played a crucial role in the U.S. victory in the Pacific
during World War II. Breaking codes as fast as they were worked out,
Japanese cryptographers never broke the code based on Navajo, virtually an
unwritten language in 1942. The idea originated with Philip Johnston, an
engineer raised on the Navajo Reservation where his father had been a
missionary. Worried about U.S. military setbacks because of communication
leaks, and confident that few people in the world understood the complex
syntax and tonal qualities of Navajo, he suggested that the marines use the
language as the basis for a code. One word, spoken in four different
alterations in pitch or tone of voice, had four different meanings. After
staging a demonstration in which several Navajo friends transmitted English
into Navajo and back into English, the Marine Corps authorized an official
program to develop and implement the code. Twenty-nine Navajos fluent in
Navajo and English, some only fifteen years old, constructed and mastered
the Navajo code, which they transmitted in simulated battles. Twenty-seven
Code Talkers were shipped to Guadalcanal, while two remained behind to
train more Code Talkers.
The Code Talkers devised an alphabet to spell out words for which no code
terms could be devised. They used words, many taken from nature, that had
logical associations with military terms and names of places. Thus, the
code word for observation plane became ne-ahs-jah, or "owl" in Navajo;
besh-lo or "iron fish' was the word for submarine. The Navajo word for
potato meant grenade and a whale signified a battleship. The Navajo word
for America (Ne-he- mah) meant "our mother' and clan names were used for
military units. By the end of the war, 411 terms baffled Japanese
cryptographers who were unable to decipher a single syllable from thousands
of transmitted messages.
Eventually, some 400 Navajos served in the Code Talker program. Assigned to
the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions of the U.S. Marines, they served in
many campaigns in the Pacific theater, usually in two-men teams conversing
by field telephone and walkie-talkie to call in air strikes and artillery
bombardments, direct troop movements, report enemy locations, direct fire
from American positions, and transmit sensitive military information. At
Iwo Jima, the Code Talkers immortalized themselves. To capture the island,
the entire military operation was directed by orders communicated by the
Navajo Code Talkers. During the first forty-eight hours, while the marines
landed and consolidated their shore positions, six Navajo radio nets
operated around the clock. They sent and received more than 800 messages
without error. When the marines raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, the
Code Talkers relayed the message in the Navajo code:
"sheep-uncle-ram-ice-bear-ant-cat-horse-itch."
In 1992, the Pentagon honored the Navajo Code Talkers with an exhibit that
documents the history of the code. Back in the Gallup-McKinley Chamber of
Commerce, a "permanent home" houses historic photos, posters, trophies,
radios, and other valuable items. Phoenix, Arizona boasts the nation's
first permanent tribute to the Code Talkers, a fourteen-foot sculpture by
Doug Hyde, of a young indian boy holding a flute in his hand. Called on to
participate in public ceremonies and parades country-wide, the Navajo Code
Talkers have been honored in books, films, curriculum materials, and by a
beautiful recording "Code Talkers" sung by Vincent Craig, the son of Bob
Craig, a Code Talker in the Marine Fifth Division.
NAVAJO CODE
A Wol-la-chee Ant
B Shush Bear
C Mosai Cat
D Be Deer
E Dzeh Elk
F Ma-e Fox
G Klizzie Goat
H Lin Horse
I Tkin Ice
J Tkele-cho-gi Jackass
K Klizzie-yazzie Kid
L Dibeh-yazzie Lamb
M Na-as-tso-si Mouse
N Nesh-chee Nut
O Ne-ahs-jah Owl
P Bi-sodih Pig
Q Ca-yeilth Quiver
R Gah Rabbit
S Dibeh Sheep
T Than-zie Turkey
U No-da-ih Ute
V A-keh-di-glini Victor
W Gloe-ih Weasel
X Al-an-as-dzoh Cross
Y Tsah-as-zih Yucca
Z Besh-do-gliz Zinc
Source - Arlene Hirshfelder and Martha Kreipe deMontano. 1993.
"The Native American Almanac - A Portrait of Native America Today"
Prentice Hall General Reference. P. 232 - 234.