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Nearly sixty years after the end of World War II, a group of heroes who played a vital role in winning the war in the Pacific finally received the tribute they so justly deserved. The Navajo code talkers, Marines who used a top-secret code based on their language, were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their brave duty in July 2001.
The Navajo code used during the war was the only code the Japanese never cracked, and because it was so effective it remained a secret until 1968 when it was declassified. Few people outside the Navajo Nation knew about the code or the Marines who created and implemented it during the war.
For the first time, director John Woo brings the Navajo code talkers' story to the world with Windtalkers, a film that centers on the relationship between the Marines (portrayed by actors Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater) and the Navajo code talkers (actors Adam Beach and Roger Willie) they were assigned to protect during World War II. The gripping climax takes place during the Battle of Saipan when the Marines, fighting off the Japanese, must safeguard the code at all costs.
This book tells the fascinating story behind the film - from facts about how the code was created to historical background of the Navajo Nation, a glimpse into the rigorous code talker training program, production details about transforming a lush Hawaiian valley into a Saipan battlefront, and much more.
