This photograph shows Navajo “code talkers” Corporal Henry Bahe, Jr., and Private First Class George H. Kirk operating a radio set. The U.S. Marines used Navajos to transmit and receive messages in their native language during World War II. Because the Navajo language is a complex, unwritten language that has no alphabet or symbols, it was a perfect candidate for coded communication. The Japanese never broke the code.
Navajo Indian Code Talkers Henry Bake and George Kirk
- 12/1943
Description
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps.
National Archives Identifier: 593415
Full Citation: 127-MN-69889-B; Navajo Indian Code Talkers Henry Bake and George Kirk; 12/1943; Photographs of Navajo Indian “Code-Talkers” in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1943 – 1948; Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/code-talkers-bake-kirk/, February 23, 2026]
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