>  BA> Many people don't know that during WW II, the US used Navajo 
tribesmen
>  BA> in its radio communications in the Pacific Theater.  The 
Japanese 
>  BA> didn't have ANYBODY that could speak or understand native 
American 
>  BA> languages.  Drove the Japanese nuts..
> 
> It was not just the Navajo.  Other nations were used in a similar
> manner.  The Navajo just seem to have gotten the most exposure in 
recent
> years.  I say recent because what they did was still considered
> classified for decades after the war ended.
> 
> The USA owes them a lot.
> 
> I might add that I have a book with descriptions of many of them (and
> photos).  Also, I once had the opportunity to talk with one during a
> trip which included a stop at the Navajo nation.  I also talked with 
his
> son, who did not know what his father did in WWII for decades after it
> was over.

If you're into this sort of thing, a fellow named David Kahn wrote a 
book on the subject back in the 1970s, updated in the 1990s, 
titled "The Codebreakers."  I found it a very good read, but then I was 
into that sort of thing back then.  Still have the books, though.
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