Code Talkers Numbers Dwindling

Only eleven Code Talkers of Platoon 297 still survive. They are an elite group, who helped develop an unbreakable code that helped win World War II.

“The code has never been broken. Intelligence throughout the world tried. They didn’t know what we’re talking about,” Samuel Sandoval, Shiprock, Arizona, said. “The only people who could break it – there’s six of them here.”

There were only 200 words in the code when the 297th arrived. The Code Talkers added more than 800 words.
Platoon 297’s reunion brought their journey full circle, from their Navajo homes to a war in foreign territories and back to Navajo land again in Window Rock, Arizona.

From the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona.