Q 01/05

Navajo had no word for submarine, so which animal phrase did the code talkers use instead?

A) Iron fish

B) Metal otter

C) Water snake

D) Diving duck

Answer · why

A) Iron fish

Iron fish, or besh-lo, joined a coded fleet in which destroyers were sharks and minesweepers were beavers.

Q 02/05

In the Navajo code used by the Marines, which bird's name stood for a fighter plane?

A) Chicken hawk

B) Swallow

C) Hummingbird

D) Buzzard

Answer · why

C) Hummingbird

Hummingbird, da-he-tih-hi in Navajo, was one of several bird names in the code: a bomber was a buzzard and a dive bomber a chicken hawk.

Q 03/05

In Code Talker, what does Mr. Reamer scrub inside Ned Begay's mouth for greeting him in Navajo?

A) Salt

B) Soap

C) Vinegar

D) Chalk

Answer · why

B) Soap

Soap was the punishment for one polite Navajo greeting on Ned's second day at the mission school. An older boy, Jesse Chee, helped him back to the dor...

Q 04/05

Major Howard Connor said the Marines would never have taken which island without the Navajo code talkers?

A) Tarawa

B) Peleliu

C) Wake Island

D) Iwo Jima

Answer · why

D) Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima's first two days saw six Navajo code talkers send and receive more than 800 messages without a single error.

Q 05/05

In Joseph Bruchac's Code Talker, to whom does the elderly Ned Begay tell the story of his war service?

A) A newspaper reporter

B) His old platoon

C) His grandchildren

D) A history class

Answer · why

C) His grandchildren

His grandchildren ask about a medal he owns, and the whole novel is his answer. He tells it as a Navajo elder would, handing family history on to the ...