Editing Code talker (section)

====The First Twenty-Nine and the creation of the code====
One of the key features of the Navajo Code Talkers is that they employed a coded version of their language. Other Navajos not trained in the Navajo Code could not decipher the messages being sent.

Platoon 382 was the Marine Corps's first "all-Indian, all-Navajo" Platoon. The members of this platoon would become known as ''The First Twenty-Nine''. Most were recruited from near the Fort Wingate, NM, area. The youngest was William Dean Yazzie (aka Dean Wilson), who was only 15 when he was recruited. The oldest was [[Carl Nelson Gorman|Carl N. Gorman]]—who with his son, R. C. Gorman, would become an artist of great acclaim and design the Code Talkers' logo—at age 35. 
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Names of the First Twenty-Nine and areas of birth<ref>{{Cite book |title=Our Fathers, Our Grandfathers, Our Heroes The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II A Photographic Exhibit |publisher=Circle of Light, Navajo Educational Project |year=2004 |location=Gallup, New Mexico}}</ref>
!Code talker's name
!Area of birth
!Other notes to service
|-
|Samuel Begay
|Toadlena, AZ
|
|-
|John Brown, Jr
|Chinle, AZ
|
|-
|Lowell Damon
|Fort Defiance, AZ
|
|-
|James Dixon
|Shiprock, NM
|
|-
|Carl Gorman
|Chinle, AZ
|
|-
|Alfred Leonard
|Lukachukai, AZ
|
|-
|Johnny Manuelito
|Sheep Springs, NM
|
|-
|William McCabe
|Ganado, AZ
|Purple Heart
|-
|Balmer Slowtalker (aka Joe Palmer)
|Leupp, AZ
|
|-
|Nelson Thompson
|Leupp, AZ
|Purple Heart
|-
|Benjamin Cleveland
|Fort Defiance, AZ
|Purple Heart
|-
|Jack Nez
|Canyon del Muerto, AZ
|
|-
|Oscar Ilthma
|Lupton, AZ
|Purple Heart
|-
|George Dennison
|Fort Defiance, AZ
|
|-
|Chester Nez
|Two Wells, AZ
|
|-
|Roy Begay
|Black Mountain, AZ
|
|-
|Cozy Brown
|Chinle, AZ
|
|-
|Eugene Crawford
|Tohatchi, NM
|
|-
|John Benally
|Fort Defiance, AZ
|
|-
|Lloyd Oliver
|Fruitland, NM
|
|-
|John Willie
|Shonto, AZ
|
|-
|Charlie Begay
|Tocito, NM
|Purple Heart
|-
|Wilsie Bitsie
|Rehoboth, NM
|
|-
|Frank Denny Pete
|Fruitland, NM
|Purple Heart
|-
|John Chee
|Tocito, NM
|
|-
|Allen Dale June
|Kaibito, AZ
|
|-
|Harry Tsosie
|Rough Rock, AZ
|Purple Heart, KIA
|-
|David Curley
|Phoenix, AZ
|
|-
|Bill Yazzie (aka Dean Wilson)
|TeecNosPos, AZ
|
|}
The Navajo code was formally developed and modeled on the [[Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet]] that [[spelling alphabet|uses agreed-upon English words to represent letters]]. Since it was determined that phonetically spelling out all military terms letter by letter into words while in combat would be too time-consuming, some [[Glossary of military abbreviations|terms]], [[List of established military terms|concepts]], [[List of military tactics|tactics]], and instruments of modern warfare were given uniquely formal descriptive nomenclatures in Navajo. For example, the word for ''shark'' referred to a destroyer, while ''silver oak leaf'' indicated the rank of lieutenant colonel.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Margalit|title=Chester Nez, 93, Dies; Navajo Words Washed From Mouth Helped Win War|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/us/chester-nez-dies-at-93-his-native-tongue-helped-to-win-a-war-of-words.html|access-date=August 4, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805010224/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/us/chester-nez-dies-at-93-his-native-tongue-helped-to-win-a-war-of-words.html|archive-date=August 5, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>