Peter MacDonald Sr., president of the Navajo Code Talkers

Peter MacDonald Sr., president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association and the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation, speaks with Sgt. Maj. Jerry Gomes, center, and Col. Dudley Griggs during a Marine Week Phoenix reception dinner at the Heard Museum of American Indian Art and History in Phoenix, Sept. 8, 2015. Griggs, commanding officer of the 8th Marine Corps District out of Fort Worth, Texas, hosted the dinner with fellow Marines and Phoenix leaders to highlight events happening throughout Marine Week Phoenix Sept. 10-13, and to commemorate the Navajo Code Talkers distinguished history. MacDonald, 86 and a resident of Tuba City, Ariz., is one of 19 remaining Navajo Code Talkers still alive today. “It was the only military code in modern history never broken by an enemy,” said MacDonald. “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)