During World War II, when the Japanese could break almost any American military code, twenty-nine Navajo Marines developed a secret code based on their native language, and by the end of the war more than four hundred Navajos were serving as code talkers as its vocabulary expanded. Military commanders credited this code with saving countless American Marines and soldiers and enabling successful engagements in the Pacific Theater, including Guadalcanal, Wake Island, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Midway, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and Major Howard M. Conner of the 5th Marine Division Signal Officer on Iwo Jima said, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would not have taken Iwo Jima.” Far from their homes, these young Navajo Marines served with honor and dignity, but their exploits remained secret for decades in case their unique abilities were needed again, and the code was not declassified until 1968. In July 2001, President George W. Bush awarded Congressional Gold Medals to the first twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers and their surviving spouses or children at the National Capital Rotunda, and in November 2001 Congressional Silver Medals were awarded at Window Rock, Arizona, to the rest of the Navajo Code Talkers and their surviving spouses or children.