The 2002 film WINDTALKERS starring Nicholas Cage also examined battles in the Pacific in World War II and told part of the story of the Navajo Code Talkers.

Now widely known, the Code Talkers were a top-secret project that used Navajos from northeastern Arizona and the Four Corners area and their native language to convey American military radio communications in code.

It was a code the Japanese military was never able to break.

The Navajos used native words for animals to represent certain military terms. For example, a fighter plane was the Navajo word for a hummingbird, "da-he-tih-hi." A submarine was an iron fish, "besh-lo". A tank was a tortoise, a "chay-da-gahi."

When they had to spell out a word, they also used Navajo that meant an English word that began with letters of the alphabet. In this case, the letter "a" was the Navajo word for ant, "wol-la-chee." The letter "b" was the word for bear, "shush." The letter "c" was cat, or "moasi," and so forth.

Another much less known group of Americans in the Pacific was the Army Military Intelligence Service, the MIS. This top-secret group was composed of Americans of Japanese ancestry.

They were recruited primarily from California, Hawaii and even from the detention camps in the U.S. where their families were forced to spend the war years, behind barbed wire and armed guards.

Like the Navajo Code Talkers, MIS personnel were also involved in intelligence and communications. MIS men translated captured Japanese documents, intercepted Japanese radio transmissions, tried to break codes, interrogated prisoners and conducted behind-the-lines and deception operations.

Interestingly, in contrast to recent and current infamous U.S. interrogation and torture activities, MIS men treated captured Japanese prisoners with decency and dignity, according to many accounts.

MIS interrogators used psychological understanding to help Japanese prisoners cope with the indoctrination they had received at home. MIS men used mutual respect and effective communication to persuade the Japanese prisoners of war to provide useful information to the Americans.

The MIS reportedly used their knowledge of Japanese culture and psychology to work with the prisoners in a humane way and this reportedly yielded sound military intelligence results.

This kind of approach is, of course, in stark contrast to recent U.S. approaches that include torture, degradation, sexual humiliation and other techniques which some experts say constitute severe violations of the Geneva Conventions, international law and U.S. law - war crimes.

In addition, these activities may be counterproductive in the short-run - not getting valid intelligence, and in the long-run - making enemies for the U.S. instead of friends.

In the case of the MIS, during the occupation of Japan, they were instrumental in rebuilding that country and cementing long-term positive relations between Japan and the U.S.

There are many different kinds of lessons to be learned from the Code Talkers and the MIS. The way they used their ethnic psychology and communications in accomplishing crucial intelligence missions are part of the importance of human assets and human consciousness.

HEARTS, MINDS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Navajos and other Native American Indian tribes also had a long history of exploring different kinds of consciousness, as have other cultures.

"Vision quests," fasting, dreams and in some cases the use of certain plants, mushrooms or cacti were seen as legitimate methods for information gathering, spiritual development and insight, and to contact the Great Spirit, departed loved ones and ancestors.

Now, various research efforts over the past few decades have discovered that human psychology is far more complex and interesting than many believed.

The human brain, mind and emotional heart are linked to a larger field of consciousness in ways not completely understood. Some people suspect that the human spirit and soul are also involved.

Normal, everyday consciousness is only a limited wavelength or channel, much like a channel or frequency on a radio or TV. There are other levels and modes of using our consciousness, many of which can be valuable.

For example, well-known health and wellness expert Andrew Weil, M.D., wrote a book called THE NATURAL MIND, published in 1972. In the book, Weil proposed that human consciousness not only has the capability of moving into different states, but that humans actually have a natural tendency to do this.

Examples he cites include children who spin in circles or roll down hills to experience dizziness, and people who enjoy the adrenalin rush of dangerous or exciting activities.

Skydiving, rock-climbing, roller coaster-riding, sexual activity and lovemaking, fighting and warfare, prayer and meditation, coffee, tobacco, alcohol and certain plants, mushrooms, cacti and medications can all change human consciousness. Even sleep is a form of "altered consciousness."

With some, but not all, of these consciousness-adjusting methods, positive results can occur. For example, in the case of one well-known plant, cannabis, testosterone levels are said to be affected in ways that can reduce the violent tendencies in men.

Along these same lines, it is generally accepted that healthy and frequent sexual activity among men may also reduce violent and anti-social behavior in many cases. In situations or cultures where normal and natural sexual activity is limited, increased violence can result.

Weil also pointed out that the human race has been doing things to explore inner consciousness for thousands of years.

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