The response from the Navajo community was significant.

Navajo men had been serving in the U.S. military in meaningful numbers since at least World War I, for reasons that were complex and sometimes contradictory.

Some enlisted out of genuine patriotism toward the United States, the country in which they lived even if its government had treated them poorly.

Some enlisted because military service offered economic opportunity and a path out of the significant poverty that characterized life on the reservation during the Depression era.

Some were motivated by the traditional Diné warrior ethos, which placed high value on the protection of the community and the willingness to fight in its defense.

The first group selected for the Code Talker program numbered twenty-nine men.