When  World War II  started in the Pacific, it relied heavily on secret communications.  The military needed speedy communication among the islands of the Pacific Ocean, which were spread out over thousands of miles.  Deploying troops without tipping off  the enemy was a challenge and Japan had the advantage in the beginning.  They were learning the time, place and direction the American attack forces were deployed.  But as the Navajo Marines started transmitting messages by telephone and radio using their secret code, the United States soon gained ground.
        When the first Navajos started to develop a code, they never realized the task that lay ahead of them.  First they had to learn military and field terms in English.  Then they had to create a Navajo equivalent for each of these terms.  In order to maintain secrecy, no written version of any code was ever allowed in the battle zones.  They had to commit every word to memory.  While creating the code, the Code Talkers used four basic rules to make memorization easier.

         Many of the code words were straightforward.  For example, different aircraft were given the name of different birds that acted similar to the planes.  For instance a dive bomber was much like a sparrow hawk to the Navajos, so it was called a gini; their word for sparrow hawk.  Other code words reflected the Navajo sense of humor.  Below is a list of some of the terms the Navajos created for military words.

        In order to be able to include other words in their code, besides the assigned terms, the Code Talkers added an alphabet code.  They took the English letter and thought of something that started with the letter, and then used the Navajo word for that object.  Thus, the Navajo words "wol-la-chee" (ant), "be-la-sana" (apple) and "tse-nill" (axe) all stood for the letter "a."  They then used a group of Navajo words to spell out an English word.  In order to say "Navy"  in Navajo Code they could say for instance, "tsah (needle)  wol-la-chee (ant)  ah-keh-di- glini (victor)  tsah-ah-dzoh (yucca)."  When they received a message, it either had terms they knew, or alphabet words which they could translate using the first letters of English words.   In this way, the Code Talkers could encode anything! 

B. (Na-Hash-Chid) - Badger
    (Shush) - Bear
    (Toish-Jeh) - Barrel

C. (Moasi) - Cat
     (Tla-Gin) - Coal
     (Ba-Goshi) - Cow

D. (Be) - Deer
     (Chindi) - Devil
     (Lha-Cha-Eh) - Dog

E. (Ah-jah) - Ear
     (Dzeh) - Elk
     (Ah-Nah) - Eye

F.  (Chuo) - Fir
     (Tsa-E-Donin-Ee) - Fly
     (Ma-E) – Fox

G. (Ah-Tad) - Girl
     (Klizzie) - Goat
     (Jeha) - Gum

H. (Tse-Gah) - Hair
     (Cha) - Hat
     (Lin) - Horse

I . (Tkin) - Ice
     (Yeh-Hes) - Itch
     (A-Chi) - Intestine

J.  (Tkele-Cho-Gi) - Jackass
     (Yil-Doi) - Jerk
     (Ah-Ya-Tsinne) - Jaw

K. (Jad-Ho-Loni) - Kettle
     (Ba-Ha-Ne-Di-Tinin) - Key
     (Klizzie-Yazzie) - Kid

M. (Tsin-Tliti) - Match
     (Be-Tas-Tni) - Mirror
     (Na-As-Tso-Si) - Mouse

N. (Tsah) - Needle
     (A-Chin) - Nose
     (Nesh-Chee) - Nut

O. (A-Kha) - Oil
     (Tlo-Chin) - Onion
     (Ne-Ahs-Jah) - Owl

P. (Cla-Gi-Aih) - Pant
     (Bi-So-Dih) - Pig
     (Ne-Zhoni) - Pretty

Q. (Ca-Yeilth) - Quiver

R. (Gah) - Rabbit
     (Dah-Nes-Tsa) - Ram
     (Ah-Losz) - Rice

S. (Dibeh) - Sheep
    (Klesh) - Snake

T. (D-Ah) - Tea
     (A-Woh) - Tooth
     (Than-Zie) - Turkey

U. (Shi-Da) - Uncle
     (No-Da-ih) - Ute

V. (A-Keh-Di-Glini) - Victor

W. (Gloe-Ih) - Weasel

X. (Al-Na-As-Dzoh) - Cross

Y. (Tsah-Ah-Dzoh) - Yucca

Z. (Besh-Do-Tliz) - Zin