DESCRIPTION:
On Veterans Day November 11, 2000, the Native American Music Awards honored the Navajo Code Talkers with a Living Legend Award. Golfer Notah Begay (Navajo) and The Smithsonian's Dr. Richard West presented the Code Talkers with their award. The Navajo code talkers were commended for their skill, speed, and accuracy demonstrated throughout the war. At the Battle of Iwo Jima, These men sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. They were highly credited that the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima. The deployment of the Navajo code talkers continued through the Korean War and after, until it was ended early in the Vietnam War. The Navajo code is the only spoken military code never to have been deciphered.The Navajo code talkers received no recognition until the declassification of the operation in 1968. In 1982, the code talkers were given a Certificate of Recognition by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who also named August 14, 1982 as "Navajo Code Talkers Day". Following the Awards presentation, on December 21, 2000 the U.S. Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, Public Law 106-554, 114 Statute 2763, which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the original twenty-nine World War II Navajo code talkers, and Silver Medals to each person who qualified as a Navajo code talker (approximately 300).