– Served with Headquarters & Service Company, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division on Saipan, Iwo Jima, Northern Mariana Islands and Marshall Island
– Awarded the Purple Heart and other commendations
– Received the Congressional Silver Medal in 2001
Samuel Tom Holiday was one of the last Navajo code talkers who served in the Pacific during World War II. The unique syntax of the Navajo language made it impossible for the Imperial Japanese Army to break their code.
Bryan Mark Rigg, PHD
AUTHOR OF FLAMETHROWER: IWO JIMA MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT AND U.S. MARINE WOODY WILLIAMS AND HIS CONTROVERSIAL AWARD, JAPAN’S HOLOCAUST AND THE PACIFIC WAR (FIDELIS HISTORIA PRESS, 2020)