Native American Code Talkers Recognized

President Bush signed the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 into law this week. Even though Native American's weren't granted citizenship until 1924, the American military’s use of Native American code talkers goes back to October, 1918, and were extensively used throughout both the European and Pacific theaters during World War II . Senator John Thune made the announcement on Friday, saying that code talkers provided secure communications that the Axis powers were never able to decode, ultimately helping save lives and enabling Allied victory. Because the innovative communications used by the code talkers were based on native languages and not mathematical progressions nor machine-based code, enemy forces were unable to exploit Allied exchanges for the length of the war. These secure communications proved to be both faster and more secure than other methods of encrypting and sending messages - an incredible benefit in keeping the advantage of surprise during combat operations.