President Donald Trump honored three Native Americans from the Navajo tribe, who participated in World War II as part of the Marines.
"You were here (in the United States) before any of us," the president told veterans of the White House Monday. "I appreciate your courage and love for your country."
What is the story of these men and why did the president honor them?
Fleming Begay, Thomas Begay, and Peter McDonald were among the dozens of indigenous people enlisted by the Marines to transfer the plans and tactics of US forces during the war using code derived from their native language because of the enemy's ability to decipher the former military codes.
In the beginning, the Marines recruited 29 Navajo people without knowing why they were included, but later increased to 400.
McDonald says they were asked, "Do you want to join the Marines and fight the enemy?" Without elaborating.
The code consisted of 260 words that new recruits should keep. By the end of the war in 1945, this code had expanded to 600 words.
This code played an important role in advancing the Marines in the Pacific during World War II from 1942 to 1945, when Japanese troops surrendered to the Allies.