Des Moines, Iowa (AP)

American Indian code talkers and the contributions they made to history will be discussed at a hearing later this month in Washington, Sen. Chuck Grassley said Sept. 1.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold the hearing Sept. 22. Robin Roberts, a member of the Meskwaki Tribe, based in Tama County, will be invited to testify, Grassley said.

Eight Meskwakis were among those from 18 tribes who were trained to use their language as a secret code during World War II. American military planners used a code language derived from the languages to communicate enemy troop movements, direct artillery fire and other secret information through walkie-talkies.

The codes were never cracked by enemy forces. The code talkers’ achievements went largely unnoticed because the code was classified until 1968.

“The hearing is an important step forward in awarding these brave people the Congressional Gold Medal. They were an integral part of the United States’ success in World War II,” Grassley said. “This is a chance for these Iowans to share the stories of the sacrifices that were made in freedom’s honor.”

The Navajo code talkers are perhaps the best known code talkers. The Navajo Tribe contributed more than 350 code talkers to the war effort, some of whom inspired the 2002 Hollywood movie Windtalkers.

Twenty-nine original Navajo code talkers were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bush in 2001. Others who qualified as code talkers received the Congressional Silver Medal.

The Meskwaki never received that recognition.

Frank Sanache, the last living code talker from the Meskwaki, was awarded medals from Sen. Tom Harkin in 2002. Sanache passed on during August at the age of 86.