The Families They Left and the Communities They Returned To

The Code Talkers who deployed to the Pacific left behind families on the Navajo Nation who knew they were in military service but who, in most cases, did not know the specific nature of that service.

The classification of the program meant that even the most basic description of what a Code Talker actually did — the code, the language, the specific role — could not be shared with family members.

Families on the reservation received the same information that other military families received: where their son or husband or brother was stationed, in general terms; what he was doing, in terms vague enough to satisfy security requirements; that he was alive and well, until he wasn’t.

The Navajo Nation as a community had a long tradition of supporting those who went to war and of welcoming them home with the ceremonies and practices that Diné culture provided for warriors.

The Enemy Way ceremony, which is performed for warriors returning from combat and which provides a framework for processing the experience of violence and death and reintegrating the returned warrior into community life, was performed for many returning Code Talkers.