>>
>> CAST
>> CAST YOUR VOTE RIGHT NOW GO TO 12 NEWS.COM/BULLHORN.
RIGHT NOW, 91% SAY YES IT HELPS
THE ENVIRONMENT.
THE ENVIRONMENT. >>> OUR NATION HONORING WORLD
WAR II HEROES TODAY.
AUGUST14 IS NATIONAL NAVAJO
CODE TALKERS DAY.
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SET THE
DAY ASIDE TO REMEMBER THE
SPECIAL MARINES WHO HELPED WIN
THE FIGHT AGAINST ENEMIES AND
WORLD WAR II.
>> ONLY A SMALL NUMBER REMAIN
ALIVE TODAY.
ALIVE TODAY. ANTONIA MEJIA TRAVEL TO
NORTHERN ARIZONA TO SIT DOWN
WITH ONE OF THE TRUE HEROES OF
WORLD WAR II.
>> Reporter: HIS NAME IS PETER
McDONALD.
McDONALD.
McDONALD. HE WAS CALLED TO SERVE FROM
1944 UNTIL THE END OF WORLD WAR
II.
II.
II. 75
II. 75 YEARS LATER, IT IS ALL STILL
VERY VIVID IN HIS MIND.
DEEP IN HIS ROOTS, HUMBLED BY
HIS SERVICE AND PROUD OF WHO HE
WAS, AT 91.
>> THAT MEANS HEALTH A.
>> Reporter: McDONALD STILL
STRONG AND SHARP.
BUT DEALING WITH OLD AGE.
>> MY HEARING, MY VISION ARE
SLOWING DOWN.
SLOWING DOWN. >> Reporter: ONE OF A FEW STILL
ALIVE TODAY. A MARINE SINCE HE
WAS 15 YEARS OLD.
>> YES, I LIED ABOUT MY AGE
WHEN I WENT TO THE RECRUITING
STATION.
STATION.
STATION. >> Reporter: PETER JUST WANTED
A SHINY SUIT AND HE DID NOT
KNOW HE WOULD BE PART OF A TOP-
SECRET OPERATION.
SECRET OPERATION. FIGHTING THE ENEMY IN THE
PACIFIC.
PACIFIC.
PACIFIC. >> I ENDED UP ON GUAM WHEN GUAM
WAS SECURED.
WAS SECURED. 19452 BOMBS WERE DROPPED.
THEY WERE CLOSE TO 1 MILLION
JAPANESE SOLDIERS WHO DID NOT
WANT TO SURRENDER.
EVENTUALLY WE GOT THOSE
JAPANESE TO SURRENDER.
>> Reporter: PETER'S SERVICE
ENDED SOON AFTER.
LIKE HIM, A FEW CODE TALKERS
HELPED LEAD THE U.S. TO VICTORY
.
.
. >>
. >> NAVAJO CODE WAS THE SILVER
BULLET USED IN THE PACIFIC AND
SAVED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
LIVES.
LIVES.
LIVES. >>
LIVES. >> Reporter: RIVAL FORCES NEVER
ABLE TO CRACK THE CODES
>> FOR INSTANCE, THE CODE WORD
FOR A SUBMARINE MEANS ORANGE
FISH, CODE WORD FOR HAND
GRENADE MEANS POTATO.
>> DID YOU UNDERSTAND THE
SIGNIFICANCE BACK THEN?
>> NO BECAUSE WE WERE JUST PART
OF THE WAR MACHINE.
WE JUST PARTICIPATED, DO THE
BEST WE CAN, OUR WEAPON WAS THE
NAVAJO
NAVAJO
NAVAJO >>
NAVAJO >> HE MOVED ON THE POLITICS AS
A LEADER OF THE LARGEST TRIBE
IN THE U.S. BUT THEN SENTENCED
TO PRISON FOR FEDERAL FRAUD AND
RACKETEERING CHARGES.
RACKETEERING CHARGES. HE WAS COMMUTED BY PRESIDENT
CLINTON IN EARLY 2001.
LATER THAT YEAR PRESIDENT BUSH
THANKED HIM AND ALL LIVING CODE
TALKERS FOR THEIR SERVICE
>> SILVER CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL.
IT IS NICE TO BE RECOGNIZED.
BUT ONE THING MISSING, THE REST
OF THE CODE TALKERS WHO NEVER
MADE IT HOME.
THANK YOU TO THEM AND THEIR
FAMILIES FOR MAKING THAT
SACRIFICE BECAUSE WHAT WE DID
TRULY REPRESENTS WHO WE ARE AS
AMERICANS.
AMERICANS. >> MORE THAN 400 NAVAJO MARINES
SERVED AS CODE TALKERS.
JUST THIS YEAR, THREE HAVE
PASSED ON.
PASSED ON. PETER IS ONE OF ABOUT FIVE TO
REMAIN ALIVE.
REMAIN ALIVE. DESPITE HIS OLDER AGE HE
REMAINS AN ACTIVE PART OF THE
NAVAJO COMMUNITY.
>>
>> AWESOME TO PUT A FACE TO THAT PART OF OUR HISTORY,
RIGHT?
RIGHT?
RIGHT? >>
RIGHT? >> ISN'T ENOUGH TO SAY THANK
YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE BUT THANK
YOU, SIR WHAT YOU DID.
>>> IF YOU HAVE A HERO YOU
WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE AS PART
OF OUR THOSE WHO SERVE, PLEASE
CALL US