Synopsis By |
| On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. This was the start to years of war in the Pacific for the U.S. forces. Having to taking over islands one by one in a slow progression towards mainland Japan. During this brutal campaign, the Japanese were continually able to break coded military transmissions, dramatically slowing U.S. progress.
In 1942 the US Navy recruited several hundred Navajo as Marines and trained them to use their language as code. The Navajo language was used for decoding top secret messages because the Japanese did not have the resources to break.
This movie plays upon the scenario that they might've tried to do something about that by kidnapping Navajo soldiers, such as Private Ben Yahzee. The military was aware of the danger to the Navajo soldiers; so they assigned a Marine, such as Sergeant Joe Enders, to each as bodyguard, with the orders that if capture appears imminent to kill the Navajo soldier.
Against the backdrop of the horrific Battle of Saipan, when capture is imminent, Enders is forced to make a decision: if he can't protect his fellow Marine, can he bring himself to kill him to protect the code? The Navajo code was the only one never broken by the Japanese, and is considered to have been key in winning the war.
|
| | |
| © 2001 |
|
Movie Guide
Home Page
)
For a larger Windtalkers poster click here
