Code Broken

Frank Sanache, the last surviving member of the Meskwaki Indians who beat the Nazis by talking gibberish, has died at the age of 86. The code talkers were trained to use their native language as an unbreakable code during World War II. Their work was largely unheralded, as the code remained classified until 1968, before many Native Americans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2001. Sanache received the honor in 2002. Sanache spent 2 months training to use a walkie-talkie, then a year of jungle training in Louisiana to prepare him for the North African desert. After 5 months as a code-talker with no one to talk to and a broken walkie-talkie, Sanache was captured and spent 28 months as a POW.