Marines, veterans and Phoenix leaders applaud a performance

Marines, veterans and Phoenix leaders applaud a performance by the Marines of Marine Corps Band San Diego during a Marine Week Phoenix reception dinner at the Heard Museum of American Indian Art and History in Phoenix, Sept. 8, 2015. The evening highlighted events happening throughout Marine Week Phoenix Sept. 10-13, and commemorated the Navajo Code Talkers distinguished history. Peter MacDonald Sr., president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association and the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation, was the evening’s distinguished guest and is one of only 19 Navajo Code Talkers still alive today. “It was the only military code in modern history never broken by an enemy,” said MacDonald, 86 and a resident of Tuba City, Ariz. “As for the 19 of us remaining, it is our responsibility to preserve a Marine Corps legacy, a Navajo legacy, America’s legacy, because what we did, using our language for code to help save thousands of lives, represents what America is all about.” (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken)