On this day in 2002, the rusty iron gun turret of the U.S.S. Monitor broke from the water and into the daylight for the first time in 140 years. The ironclad warship was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, where it had rested since it went down in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the Civil War. Divers had been working for six weeks to bring it to the surface.
Samuel Sandoval, one of the last original Navajo Code Talkers, recalls enlisting in the Marines at 18 to help create an unbreakable code. Using their sacred, unwritten language, he and his brothers-in-arms forged a secret weapon that never fell to the enemy.
Historian Zonnie Gorman shares the legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers, including her father, Carl. These heroes used their native language to help secure every major Pacific battle. As Major Connor noted, without them, Iwo Jima would never have been taken.