Code Talker

This week I finished reading the book 'Code Talker' by Joseph Bruchac. This book is about the Navajo Indians who served in WWII and the top secret assignment that they had. The military came up with a plan to send coded messages to one another using the Navajo language, which means that Navajo Indians were vital to the war effort and ultimately helped us win the war. Their language is so incredibly hard to learn that other countries could never crack the code. In fact, this plan was so top secret that the government didn't allow the Navajo's who were involved to share the role they played  in the war with their family and friends until the late 1960's when they finally figured that computers would do a better job at sending coded messages than people could. When they were finally able to share their amazing stories with the world many books were written about them and they were asked to come to D.C. to meet many of the presidents who passed through the walls of the White House. The Navajo Indians were definitely the unsung heroes of WWII.

What I found most interesting about this book was how much I learned from it. I don't know if I was sleeping in history class or it's just been too long since I have learned this stuff, but I definitely didn't know a lot of the things that happened with the Japanese. I guess when I think about WWII I always think about Hitler and the Nazis. Obviously I know about Pearl Harbor, but this book goes into a lot more depth with the war against Japan. I think reading historical fiction novels is my very favorite way to learn history. These novels can actually take us to the war and we are able to see through the eyes of the men that were there. It is an incredible way to learn about our past and yes, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a history buff, wants to brush up on their history, or is just looking for a good war novel to read.