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The First Twenty-Nine, The Creation of the Navajo Code

Explore the story behind America’s unbreakable code. This hands-on exhibit let’s you step into history with the individual service records of the twenty-nine men who formed Platoon 382 and the four men who joined them after boot camp to create the Navajo Code, colorized photographs bring the past to life, and  learn about the would-be 30th man of Platoon 382.

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The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II were pivotal to victory in the Pacific. When the US entered the war in 1941 the Japanese had already broken every major U.S. code. A group of 30 Navajos were recruited to test the feasibility of a new code that would not rely on complicated machines or ever changing ciphers, but instead be entirely memorized and sent via voice transmission.

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See first hand documents that leading up to the recruitment and learn about each of the men who volunteered to fight for a country that forbid them to speak their native language.

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Now through June 30th with a special lecture by Zonnie Gorman (TBD)

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