The Medal Print Share
"Awarding these medals will give our nation a chance to bestow an honor that is long overdue and to formally thank these brave men for their contributions."
- Senator Jeff Bingaman
If their achievements had been hailed at the conclusion of the war, proper honors would have been bestowed upon the Navajo Code Talkers at that time. But the Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy, an oath they kept and honored, but at the same time, one that robbed them of the very accolades and place in history they deserved. The secrecy surrounding the code was maintained until it was declassified in 1968. Only then did a realization of the sacrifice and valor of these brave Native Americans emerge.
In April 2000, I introduced legislation to authorize the President of the United States to award a gold medal, on behalf of the Congress, to each of the original twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers, as well as a silver medal to each man who later qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS 642). The bill was signed law on December 21, 2000.
Of all the honors Congress can bestow, the awarding of a Congressional Gold or Silver Medal is often considered the most distinguished.
Pictured above is the first Congressional Gold Medal, authorized by the Congress for George Washington on March 25, 1776. Each medal is specifically designed for the recipient, with the Secretary of the Treasury as the final judge of the design. After that, the design is sculptured, a dye is made, and the medal is struck at the Philadelphia Mint.
These medals are to express recognition by the United States of America and its citizens of the Navajo Code Talkers, to salute these brave and innovative Native Americans, to acknowledge the great contribution they made to the nation at a time of war, and to finally give them their rightful place in history.
Related Resources on the Congressional Gold Medal
Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives - Congressional Gold Medal Recipients, 1776 to the present.
Dallas Public Library - photographs of previous Congressional Gold medals.
CRS report on Congressional Gold Medals, with a good executive summary on page three. (Adobe Acrobat .pdf format) The Secretary of the Treasury will be the final judge on the design.