Code Talker: Chapters 18–23

by Joseph Bruchac
Based on the true story of Navajo code talkers, this novel recounts the exploits of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo soldier in World War II. Ned's language skills prove to be invaluable as the Americans work to send secret messages to help them in their fight.

Here are links to our lists for book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–12, Chapters 13–17, Chapters 18–23, Chapters 24–29
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. circumstance
    the set of facts that surround a situation or event
    Because of the chance of enemy infiltrators we were under orders to never, under any circumstances, leave our wet uncomfortable foxholes after dark.
    In contrast to a banzai attack, an infiltrator would move quietly and stealthily across enemy lines, "crawl into a foxhole with a knife, cut someone’s throat, and crawl out again." Thus, after dark, "anyone seen out of a foxhole would be assumed to be an enemy and could be fired upon." There would not be any time for a friendly to explain the circumstances for him being out of his foxhole.
  2. shrapnel
    shell containing lead pellets that explodes in flight
    Two Marines had just been wounded in their arms and legs by shrapnel when they tried to retrieve a seemingly discarded .35 caliber Japanese machine pistol.
  3. bivouac
    temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
    To all units: Japanese are booby-trapping personnel equipment, installations, and bivouacs.
    Unlike barracks, which are more permanent living quarters for military personnel stationed at a base or fort, a bivouac is temporary shelter for soldiers out in the field. Because a bivouac is often just a tent, it is an easy target for booby traps (hidden explosive mines).
  4. battalion
    an army unit consisting of a headquarters and companies
    The construction battalions, the Seabees, were working hard. In no time at all they'd put up piers, a mess hall, warehouses, and a hospital where there'd been nothing but jungle a few days before.
    The name Seabees comes from the initials of "Construction Battalion" but it is also fitting because they are hard workers who are part of a volunteer branch of the U.S. Navy. Although the Seabees belong to a battalion, their duties are focused on building. This emphasizes that being in combat does not always mean being in a battle. Outside of the military, a battalion can simply be a "large indefinite number."
  5. phony
    fraudulent; having a misleading appearance
    They’d gotten so many phony messages sent by Japanese soldiers who spoke perfect English that they thought it was just an enemy trick.
  6. unanimous
    in complete agreement
    When Marine Corps headquarters asked for recommendations from their generals in the field about the code talker program, the responses were unanimous.
  7. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
    The Japanese government propaganda frightened those poor people so much that they didn’t allow themselves to be captured.
  8. garrison
    the troops who maintain and guard a fortified place
    The entire Japanese garrison on Saipan of 20,000 men was wiped out.
  9. pulverize
    destroy completely
    By the time Admiral Conolly was done, the Japanese beach defenses were pulverized.
  10. procedure
    a particular course of action intended to achieve a result
    He straightened his friend’s body, placed the other dog tag in Charlie’s mouth, and tied his mouth shut with a strip of cloth. That was standard procedure to make sure a dead man’s identification would not get lost.
  11. evacuate
    move out of an unsafe location into safety
    Charlie had been evacuated to the hospital ship.
    Usually, an evacuation does not involve just one wounded soldier but a whole group of people. People can be evacuated out of an unsafe location, or they can be evacuated out of their homes or country because the space is needed for other reasons (the Latin "vacuus" means "empty"). Bulbs or bottles can also be evacuated to create a vacuum, or a body can be evacuated of its wastes.
  12. scalpel
    a thin straight surgical knife
    When I woke up there was a bright light in my eyes and somebody was digging into my shoulder with a scalpel.
  13. morale
    the feeling that makes group members want to succeed
    Our commanders wanted to maintain morale back home and did not want to frighten the civilians.
  14. martyr
    one who voluntarily suffers death
    However, the Japanese propaganda machine made him into a martyr.
    This word comes from Sanskrit and Latin roots that connect to memory. Thus, to be a martyr, a person must not only voluntarily submit to death, but he or she must also dedicate his or her death to a larger cause and thus be remembered as glorious ("having high honor").
  15. humane
    marked by concern with the alleviation of suffering
    Those rules said that prisoners of war, enemy soldiers who had surrendered or been captured, had to be fed and housed in a humane way.
    In contrast, the narrator learned that because the Japanese saw captives as cowards, their "prisoner-of-war camps were terrible places. Captured American and British and Australian soldiers were forced into slave labor, starved, and beaten. Some were even used for medical experiments. Nearly half of the Allied soldiers who were captured by the Japanese during the war died in those camps."
Created on Wed Dec 09 14:30:01 EST 2015 (updated Tue Jun 17 17:27:08 EDT 2025)

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