PHOTOS: Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers

AP

Corporal Henry Bahe, Jr., left, and Pvt. First Class George H. Kirk, Navajo code talkers serving with a Marine Signal Unit, operate a portable radio set in a jungle clearing, close behind the front lines on the island of Bougainville in New Guines, (present-day Papua New Guinea) in this December,1943, U.S. Marine Corps photo. On Thursday, July 26, 2001, Navajo code talkers and their surviving relatives will be honored with Congressional Gold Medals at a ceremony at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/USMC via National Archives)

12 News

Navajo Code Talker Peter MacDonald sits in his home in Tuba City, Arizona.

Navajo Nation

Navajo Code Talker William Tully Brown passed away June 3, 2019, Navajo Nation officials say.

AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2018, fle photo Democratic New Mexico state Sen. John Pinto talks about his career as a lawmaker on American Indian Day in the Legislature on in Santa Fe, N.M. Pinto joined the Senate in 1977 and is 92 years old. He was a Marine who trained as a Navajo code talker during World War II. His singing of the "Potato Song" is an annual Senate ritual. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)

Via Jonathan Nez

Navajo Code Talker Fleming Begaye Sr. passed away May 10, 2019. (Photo: Navajo Nation)

Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation Code Talker David Patterson Sr. (Photo: Navajo Nation)

12 News

Navajo Code Talker Peter MacDonald shows Team 12's Antonia Mejia a medal he earned for his service.

Arizona Governor's Office

Sgt. Maj. Dan Akee passed away on the morning of Oct. 14, 2016. (Photo: Arizona Governor's Office)

Getty Images

Navajo Code Talker George James Sr. listens as US President Barack Obama speaks to the 2012 Tribal Nations Conference.

Marvcallo Silver

George James, Sr., served at the Battle of Iwo Jima. (Photo: Marvcallo Silver/Special to 12 News)

Marvcallo Silver

George James, Sr. enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was 17. (Photo: Marvcallo Silver/Special to 12 News)

Marvcallo Silver

George James, Sr., was a Navajo Code Talker in WWII. (Photo: Marvcallo Silver/Special to 12 News)

White House

Navajo Code Talker Alfred Newman

Navajo Nation

Navajo Code Talker Joe H. Kellwood died at 95 years old.

Getty Images

Native American members of the Navajo Code Talkers, Bill Toledo (L), Peter MacDonald (C) and George James, Sr. (R), listen as US President Barack Obama speaks in 2012.

Getty Images

Members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association salute during the Presentation of Colors during day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the Pepsi Center August 25, 2008. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Navajo code talker Dr. Samuel Billison speaks about his days as a U.S. Marine in World War II during a Library of Congress History Project seminar at the U.S.S. Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum on June 6, 2002

Getty Images

Members of the elite Navajo Code Talkers, the famed U.S. Marine unit who delivered unbreakable codes during World War II battles against the Japanese, look on before the start of the annual Veterans Day parade November 11, 2009.

Getty Images

Members of the elite Navajo Code Talkers, the famed U.S. Marine unit who delivered unbreakable codes during World War II battles against the Japanese, look on before the start of the annual Veterans Day parade November 11, 2009.

Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation officials say George B. Willie Sr. passed away in December 2017 at age 92. (Photo: Navajo Nation Council)

Getty Images

World War II, Navajo code talkers for the Marine Corps are honored before the MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field on September 11, 2015.

Getty Images

Native American members of the Navajo Code Talkers listen as US President Barack Obama speaks during the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior.

Navajo Nation Council

Navajo Code Talker Roy Hawthorne, Sr., died April 21, 2018. He was 92. (Photo: Navajo Nation Council)

Getty Images

Navajo Code Talker Bill Toledo listens as US President Barack Obama speaks to the 2012 Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of Interior.

Getty Images

Members of the elite Navajo Code Talkers, the famed U.S. Marine unit who delivered unbreakable codes during World War II battles against the Japanese, salute before the start of the annual Veterans Day parade November 11, 2009 in New York City.

Getty Images

Edmund Harjo (C), 96, a Seminole Indian code talker and a World War II veteran of the 195th Field Artillery Battalion, poses for photographers during the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.

Getty Images

Frank Willetto (2nd R) of Crownpoint, New Mexico, and Keith Little (R) of Navajo, New Mexico, both were members of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II, attend a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima.

Marty Thompson

Navajo Code Talker Teddy Draper Sr. (Photo: Courtesy of Marty Thompson)

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PHOTOS: Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers

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