1 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,040 Tonight on "Secrets Declassified," 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,640 cracking secret codes that win battles and save lives, 3 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,600 from the Pacific, where a U.S. codebreaker races 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,360 to prevent another Pearl Harbor... 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,040 This code is just about impossible to break. 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,400 To Vietnam, where U.S. airmens' escape route is plotted 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:27,320 with clues from an unusual source... 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,520 They're gonna use the layout 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,440 of his favorite golf courses as a code. 10 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,640 To a housewife in Virginia 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,800 that reveals her husband is selling 12 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,320 top secret codes to the enemy. 13 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,480 Tucked away in the closet is a grocery bag 14 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,360 stuffed with classified Navy documents. 15 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:47,920 These are the astonishing and sometimes terrible things 16 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,200 done by governments and the people who work for them. 17 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:52,920 It's time to bring them to light. 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,720 The first hole at Tucson National Golf Course 19 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,000 is 430 yards and bends to the left. 20 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,440 The fourth at Abilene Country Club is 195 yards. 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,720 They might sound like trivial facts, 22 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,920 but for one U.S. airman shot down behind enemy lines 23 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,280 in Vietnam, they're the difference 24 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,320 between life and death. 25 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,080 On Good Friday, 1972, 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,280 the North Vietnamese launch a massive 27 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,080 surprise assault into South Vietnam. 28 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,360 The U.S. Air Force scrambles to launch 29 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,280 a series of tactical air strikes 30 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,240 to try and contain this invasion. 31 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,200 And many airmen who've been looking forward 32 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,640 to some leave suddenly find themselves back on active duty. 33 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,280 One of the unlucky men recalled from RandR 34 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,600 is 53-year-old Gene Hambleton. 35 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,560 Gene Hambleton is a navigator and an electronics specialist 36 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,360 in the U.S. Air Force. 37 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,160 He seems old to still be flying 38 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,280 combat missions, but it's his expertise in jamming 39 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,880 enemy radar that puts him back into the cockpit 40 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,080 heading to North Vietnam. 41 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,440 Just minutes into his mission, 42 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,720 his airplane is struck, and he finds himself 43 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,520 having to parachute into enemy territory. 44 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:15,120 For the U.S. military, 45 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,320 Hambleton isn't just another man down. 46 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:19,600 Because of his seniority, 47 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,400 Hambleton has an intimate knowledge 48 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,320 of top secret strategic air command operations. 49 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,960 He cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands. 50 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,080 The race is on to find Hambleton 51 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,400 before the enemy does. 52 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,320 The Air Force manages to make radio contact with Hambleton, 53 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,960 and they launch one air evac after another. 54 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,320 But the rescue choppers keep getting shot down. 55 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:47,560 Then the Navy SEALs propose 56 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,040 a different kind of rescue. 57 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,840 Their plan is to covertly sail up the Mieu Giang River 58 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,560 and pluck Hambleton from an extraction point 59 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,200 two miles away from his current location. 60 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:00,840 There's one big problem. 61 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,240 The survival radio that Hambleton has 62 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,640 allows him to communicate with American forces, 63 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,920 but it also allows the enemy to listen in 64 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,120 on those transmissions. 65 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,080 They're going to need a secret code, 66 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,920 which only Hambleton can understand. 67 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,400 That's a lot easier said than done. 68 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,360 The rescuers reach out to Hambleton's squadron 69 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,240 to find things out about his personal life, 70 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,200 so they can come up with a coded language 71 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,760 that he would understand and the enemy wouldn't. 72 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,760 They discover that Hambleton 73 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,520 is an avid golfer, but not only that, 74 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,600 he has freakishly encyclopedic knowledge 75 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,200 about the world's most renowned golf courses. 76 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,800 Maybe they can encode a route to the extraction point 77 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:45,440 using the layout 78 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,240 of his favorite golf courses as a code. 79 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,160 It's a crazy idea, but it's the only hope 80 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,440 the Air Force has of getting their man back. 81 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:57,680 The rescue team starts overlaying 82 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,360 golf course plans over aerial reconnaissance photos. 83 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,040 And they start plotting a route 84 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:04,520 to the extraction point 85 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,240 across farmland that also stays away from roads 86 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:09,800 and enemy positions, 87 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,520 and they break that plan down into nine stages. 88 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,120 Each of those stages corresponds 89 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,280 to the individual length and bearing of a hole 90 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,320 from an iconic golf course. 91 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,360 Forget Whistling Straits, Augusta, or the Ocean Course. 92 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,160 This will be the toughest round of golf anyone has ever played. 93 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:34,760 On April 10th, Hambleton's radio 94 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:36,200 crackles to life. 95 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,560 The voice on the other end belongs to 96 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,040 Air Force Captain Harold Ike. 97 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:42,720 Hambleton's life depends 98 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:45,960 on him being able to decode what he hears next. 99 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:47,320 Ike tells him, 100 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:49,520 you're going to play nine holes, 101 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,320 and you're going to get in the Suwannee. 102 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,960 The round starts at number one at Tucson National. 103 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,560 Now, at first, Hambleton's totally confused 104 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,680 as would be any of the North Vietnamese 105 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:01,120 that are listening in. 106 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,520 But then Hambleton realizes that message 107 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,720 is so strange, it must be a code. 108 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,720 The Suwannee is a river in the U.S., 109 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,520 So he figures they must be giving him coded directions 110 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,960 to get to a nearby river. 111 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:17,800 Hambleton racks his brains 112 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:19,760 trying to remember everything he can 113 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:21,560 about the course at Tucson. 114 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,920 The first hole is 430 yards running southeast. 115 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,520 Suddenly, he realizes that's his first direction. 116 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,600 Hambleton can hear enemy activity all around, 117 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,080 so he waits until the cover of nightfall before teeing off. 118 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,960 As he starts moving, it's tough going for Hambleton. 119 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,480 He has to count his strides, moving through darkness, 120 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:45,800 navigating through potential minefields, 121 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,680 and avoiding enemy soldiers. 122 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,120 After 40 minutes, he makes it to the first hole. 123 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,880 That's one hole down. Eight more to go. 124 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,320 He makes it through four holes 125 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,000 before dawn breaks when he takes cover again. 126 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,000 Next evening, he moves on to hole 5, 127 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,640 and this one comes with a serious hazard. 128 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:08,600 The fifth hole is the number four 129 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,640 at Abilene Country Club, where Hambleton 130 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:12,320 once hit a hole in one. 131 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:13,960 This time it's not so easy. 132 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:15,760 The route takes him right through the outskirts 133 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,000 of a Vietnamese village. 134 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,440 As he's tiptoeing through this village, 135 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:21,920 suddenly, from around a building, 136 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,680 a man leaps out at him brandishing a blade. 137 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,600 Instinct takes over, and Hambleton 138 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,960 pulls out his own knife, plunging it into his attacker 139 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,640 before escaping onward into the jungle. 140 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,840 Now his next round is against the clock, 141 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:37,880 because once the body is discovered, 142 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,800 the North Vietnamese will be hot on his trail. 143 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,720 Over the final four holes, 144 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,680 Hambleton grows weaker and weaker. 145 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,360 After three days, 146 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,480 Hambleton makes it to the ninth and final hole. 147 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,080 He locates his extraction point and waits. 148 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,120 It feels like his ordeal is nearly over. 149 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,440 Then Hambleton's heart sinks. 150 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,040 He spots a sampan boat heading upriver 151 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,520 towards him, with a Vietnamese man on the prowl, 152 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,920 holding an AK-47. 153 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,760 Days of surviving in the jungle, 154 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,280 only to get caught now. 155 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,120 But then someone else emerges from the boat. 156 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:15,440 It's an American. 157 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,720 It's the Navy SEAL extraction team. 158 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:20,440 News of Hambleton's rescue 159 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,480 hits the headlines, but something crucial is missing. 160 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,800 All mention of the Navy's clever code 161 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,760 has been scrubbed from the stories. 162 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,040 The secret remains locked away for nearly a decade, 163 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,120 until 1980, when Hambleton finally reveals 164 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,080 the story of his amazing escape 165 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,200 and the world hears of one of the U.S. military's 166 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,840 most audacious codes. 167 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:47,960 Improvising a code to rescue a man 168 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,800 behind enemy lines is one thing. 169 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,280 But during World War II, the U.S. military 170 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,000 needs something that can save thousands 171 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,200 and help turn the tide of the war. 172 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,880 So they turned to an unlikely source, 173 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,640 an ancient Native American language. 174 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,120 After months of Naval warfare, 175 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,440 the U.S. military is prepping to engage the Japanese 176 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,960 on land for the first time, 177 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,120 and their plan is to island hop their way 178 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,680 across the Pacific towards the Japanese mainland. 179 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:21,160 Radio communication will play 180 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,080 a pivotal role in the campaign, 181 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,280 but it has a downside. 182 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:27,880 In the chaos of battle, 183 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,080 there is no quick way to encrypt 184 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,240 or decrypt battlefield commands. 185 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,720 So Japanese forces will be able to hear 186 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,320 everything the U.S. is saying. 187 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,560 In 1942, an engineer 188 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:41,920 raised in a remote region of Arizona 189 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,160 has an idea which could change all that. 190 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,200 His name is Philip Johnston. 191 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:48,800 Philip Johnston was 192 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,880 actually raised by missionaries on a Navajo reservation. 193 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,160 And as such, he learned the Navajo language. 194 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,720 Johnston recommends to the U.S. Army 195 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,640 using Navajo speakers as code talkers, 196 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,600 communicating battlefield orders in real time 197 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,200 before the Japanese can decipher them. 198 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,720 It's estimated that less than 30 non-Navajo 199 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:10,760 speak the language in 1942, 200 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,040 making the odds of a Japanese soldier 201 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,160 being able to understand Navajo virtually zero. 202 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:17,960 When the U.S. military hears 203 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,280 about Johnston's idea, they take notice. 204 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,680 He's asked to come in and put his idea to the test. 205 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,640 In February 1942, Johnston assembles 206 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,760 four Navajo men at Camp Elliott in San Diego. 207 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,040 Under the scrutiny of the top brass, 208 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,480 the Navajo sit in separate offices 209 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,600 and are made to relay half a dozen simple messages 210 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,120 to each other via telephone. 211 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,960 The Navajo test subjects perform flawlessly. 212 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,120 The messages are relayed far faster 213 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,160 than they could have been encoded and decoded, 214 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,080 and there's not a single mistake among them. 215 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,560 Johnston's big idea gets the green light. 216 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:56,920 Now he needs to scale it up for battle. 217 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,840 Hundreds of Navajo volunteer for service, 218 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:03,840 and they're rapidly given basic military training. 219 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,400 But pretty soon, a problem arises. 220 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,160 The Navajo language is almost a thousand years old, 221 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:10,880 but this language doesn't contain 222 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,720 any words for modern warfare. 223 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,760 To get around the missing words, 224 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,320 Johnston proposes using everyday words 225 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,360 that have military meanings. 226 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,240 So for example, "whale" became the word 227 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:22,920 that was used for battleships. 228 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,640 In November 1942, 229 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,120 the first 13 Navajo code talkers 230 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:30,640 are deployed to the Pacific. 231 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,160 It's finally time to put Johnston's idea 232 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,480 to the ultimate test in the heat of battle. 233 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,920 Chester Nez and Roy Begay 234 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,680 are two of the first Navajo code talkers 235 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:44,520 who arrive in Guadalcanal. 236 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,560 And they have a literal trial by fire. 237 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:48,960 On the 7th of November, 238 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:50,880 Chester and Roy's platoon comes under attack 239 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,880 as they try to take an airfield. 240 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:54,400 They are pinned down. 241 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,640 A runner comes with an urgent message 242 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,320 to call in an artillery strike. 243 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,440 While bullets and mortar rounds whiz overhead, 244 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,520 Chester begins transmitting the message 245 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,320 to call in the artillery strike 246 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,440 in his native language of Navajo. 247 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:11,640 Seconds later, artillery buzz overhead, 248 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,480 neutralizing the Japanese machine gun nest 249 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:15,480 holding them down. 250 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:18,560 The entire message 251 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:22,080 took just 20 seconds to send and receive. 252 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,560 If sent using standard military code, 253 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,480 it would have taken 30 minutes, 254 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,240 by which time Roy and Chester's company 255 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,080 would have been annihilated. 256 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,080 Roy and Chester's commanding general contacts his superiors, 257 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,440 saying this Navajo code is terrific. 258 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,400 The enemy never understood it. 259 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:42,960 We don't understand it either, but it works. 260 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,440 Send us more Navajos. 261 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,200 After the arrival of the Navajo code talkers, 262 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,160 the American forces go on to win 263 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:51,760 the Battle of Guadalcanal. 264 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:53,320 It's a decisive point in the fighting 265 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,840 in the Southwest Pacific. 266 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:57,280 The Navajo code talkers 267 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,480 continued to play a critical role, 268 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:04,080 including in pivotal action at Iwo Jima and Bougainville. 269 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,720 And the Japanese never managed to figure out 270 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:08,800 their ancient language. 271 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:10,520 After the war is over, code talkers 272 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,080 don't get the official recognition they deserve. 273 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,920 While part of that is due to race relations at the time, 274 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,200 a larger part is due to the oath 275 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,120 that the code talkers took, 276 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,080 promising to keep their operations secret 277 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,440 in case they were ever called upon in time of need again. 278 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:27,560 Only in 1968 is 279 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:31,800 the service record of the code talkers declassified. 280 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:36,000 Then, in 2008, President George W. Bush 281 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,800 signs the Code Talkers Recognition Act, 282 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,119 and the hidden heroes of the Pacific War 283 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:42,320 are finally given their due. 284 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:49,320 After Pearl Harbor, a U.S. codebreaker 285 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,880 discovers Japan is planning an even more devastating attack, 286 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,080 only he doesn't know where. 287 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,600 If he can't crack the Japanese cipher, 288 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,600 then the whole U.S. Pacific Fleet could be destroyed. 289 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,360 On December 7, 1941, 290 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,160 the Japanese launch a surprise attack 291 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,160 on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, 292 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,400 claiming the lives of over 2,400 Americans. 293 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,560 Pearl Harbor ranks with 9/11 as the worst 294 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:21,440 intelligence failure in American history. 295 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,240 Captain Joseph Rochefort 296 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:27,760 is the head of the codebreaking unit 297 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,440 at Pearl Harbor. 298 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:32,120 Rochefort vows to make sure the U.S. will never 299 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,480 be ambushed like this again. 300 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,440 In the aftermath of the attack, 301 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:38,040 Rochefort and his team are tasked 302 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,840 with cracking the notorious Japanese code JN-25. 303 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,160 The code uses a huge codebook to translate 304 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:49,280 common words and phrases into individual five-digit numbers. 305 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:50,800 From there, there's 306 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:52,920 an additive codebook that then scrambles 307 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,960 those numbers yet again. 308 00:13:55,080 --> 00:14:00,440 This dual system makes it just about impossible to break. 309 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,000 Rochefort and his team 310 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,920 began studying the mass of Japanese communications 311 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,400 from the days leading up to Pearl Harbor. 312 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,960 Rochefort discovers that, in the rush before Pearl Harbor, 313 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,440 the Japanese coders got careless. 314 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,840 They began transmitting codes using 315 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:17,840 an additive book that had already been 316 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,080 partially cracked by the U.S. 317 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,000 This allows Rochefort to spot something else. 318 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,160 It seems that when the Japanese are discussing 319 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,440 target locations, they use the prefix A 320 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,080 to represent U.S. interests in the Pacific. 321 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,480 AI seems to stand for Oahu. 322 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,640 AH is Hawaii; AK, Pearl Harbor. 323 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,400 Soon after Rochefort has discovered these 324 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,600 two-letter codes, a fresh set of intercepts 325 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,680 arrive mentioning a fourth two-letter code location. 326 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,600 Japanese air commanders are inquiring about wind speed 327 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,680 for an upcoming attack on AF. 328 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,160 What the Americans don't want is to be caught 329 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,600 in some kind of trap. 330 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:04,000 It's so very important to know exactly where AF is. 331 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,720 Rochefort is reading 332 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,320 the messages over and over, and then it hits him. 333 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,120 He looks at who the message was sent to 334 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:13,760 and who it wasn't sent to. 335 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:15,920 And Rochefort notices that there was 336 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,960 one military branch that didn't receive the message, 337 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,440 submarine commanders. 338 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:23,560 If submarines are not included, 339 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,840 this attack is likely to be an air attack, 340 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,400 meaning AF needs to be within range of the Japanese base 341 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,000 on the Marshall Islands, where their 342 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,120 aircraft carriers are harbored. 343 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,640 That narrows down AF to only a few possible locations. 344 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:38,240 By process of elimination, 345 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,680 he knows the attack can't be on the Hawaiian Islands 346 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,200 because they have a code name assigned to them. 347 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,480 And so, narrowing it down, 348 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,720 he knows that AF has to indicate 349 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,080 the American bases on Midway. 350 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,240 Rochefort believes he's cracked the code 351 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,120 and knows where the attack will happen. 352 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:56,760 But it all counts for nothing if he 353 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,480 can't convince his commanders. 354 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,800 The stakes couldn't be higher. 355 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,280 It's crucial that the Americans 356 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:03,960 hold on to Midway. 357 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,520 After the losses already suffered at Pearl Harbor, 358 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:07,640 to lose Midway at this point would kind of be like 359 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,080 the 1-2 punch that really makes the knockout. 360 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,800 Rochefort has this sense that AF is Midway, 361 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,840 but he can't prove it. 362 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,640 And there's no way that he is going to advise Admiral Nimitz, 363 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,160 who commanded the Pacific Fleet, 364 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,320 to send out America's remaining carriers 365 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:32,120 to ambush the Japanese on that kind of hunch. 366 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,320 So he comes up with a plan. 367 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,000 Rochefort arranges for 368 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,360 Midway's garrison commander to send a fake message, 369 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,680 saying that they're low on fresh water. 370 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:42,440 Now, if the message is sent uncoded, 371 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:44,400 the Japanese will immediately realize it's fake. 372 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:46,600 So Rochefort gets the message sent 373 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,600 using a U.S. cipher that he knows the Japanese 374 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:51,400 have already cracked. 375 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,160 Then Rochefort waits. 376 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:58,360 48 hours later, he gets the response he was banking on. 377 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,320 Rochefort's team decodes a message 378 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,640 about the imminent attack on AF, 379 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,040 and it specifically states AF is low on water. 380 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,440 This is the clincher Admiral Nimitz needs. 381 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,160 AF is Midway. 382 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,160 This is the kind of intelligence 383 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,520 that commanders dream of. 384 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,960 Nimitz understood that, if he got it right, 385 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,960 the Japanese Pacific fleet would be devastated. 386 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,080 Somebody was headed for an ambush. 387 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,000 Would it be the Americans or the Japanese? 388 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:31,760 Wasting no time, 389 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,280 Admiral Nimitz sends three aircraft carriers 390 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,320 with 117 aircraft to await the Japanese. 391 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,520 On June the 4th, 1942, 392 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,920 they catch the Japanese fleet entirely by surprise. 393 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,080 The Battle of Midway is resounding naval victory 394 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,320 for the United States. 395 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,160 The United States sends to the bottom of the Pacific 396 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,160 four Japanese aircraft carriers, 397 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:03,680 thus neutralizing the Japanese threat in the Pacific. 398 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,560 Midway is such an incredible triumph 399 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,200 that everyone wants a piece of the glory. 400 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,600 And credit for cracking JN-25 is 401 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,360 ultimately claimed by the Director of Naval Intelligence. 402 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,600 And Rochefort's role is basically 403 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,920 forgotten from history. 404 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,680 Only in 1985, when a book is published 405 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,560 by a former colleague, is Rochefort finally 406 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,840 revealed as the unsung hero 407 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,640 who stopped a second Pearl Harbor. 408 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,880 The following year, he is posthumously awarded 409 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,080 the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. 410 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,360 When a U.S. POW in North Vietnam's 411 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:44,720 Hanoi Hilton wants to reveal to the world 412 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,400 that he's being tortured, 413 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,080 he does it without his captors noticing. 414 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,400 Blink, and you'll miss it. 415 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:57,840 Commander Jeremiah Denton 416 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,680 is an experienced and respected career aviator 417 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,280 in the U.S. Navy. 418 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,800 In 1965, he's flying a bombing mission 419 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,640 when his airplane is struck by anti-aircraft fire. 420 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,920 Denton manages to bail out and parachute to safety, 421 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,400 but he's quickly captured by Vietnamese forces 422 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,880 who take him to the infamous prison Hoa Lo. 423 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,600 The prison is better known among U.S. POWs 424 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,080 by its nickname, the Hanoi Hilton. 425 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,640 But there's nothing luxurious about the conditions 426 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:29,360 Denton checks into. 427 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,080 Hoa Lo is a horrid situation for the aviators 428 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:33,400 that are held there. 429 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,040 The Vietnamese classify American aviators 430 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,440 as air pirates, and they claim that they are not protected 431 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,320 by the Geneva Convention. 432 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,400 They are kept in a prison facility 433 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:45,760 where they're often subjected to harsh interrogation 434 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,360 and torture. 435 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,880 They're not allowed to communicate 436 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:50,320 with one another, 437 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,600 and any attempt to speak to a fellow prisoner 438 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,480 will probably result in a pretty nasty beating. 439 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,600 Denton understands keeping his sanity 440 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,200 intact relies on one thing. 441 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,400 He must find a way to connect with his fellow inmates. 442 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,600 Denton discovers that the POWs 443 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,080 have already found a way to communicate 444 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,000 without using spoken words. 445 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,080 They pass messages by tapping on their cell walls 446 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,600 in Morse code. 447 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:18,240 Through their secret communications, 448 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:21,240 Denton is able to incite a campaign of resistance. 449 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,800 But the guards identify Denton as the ringleader. 450 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,560 He is beaten and brutally tortured. 451 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,960 In October 1967, 452 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:31,640 Denton is moved to another prison unit 453 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,440 reserved for the inmates deemed to be troublemakers. 454 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,280 This one has the less ironic nickname, Alcatraz. 455 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,120 Here, the tap code won't work. 456 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,520 Alcatraz is a much harsher system, 457 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,920 and the guards will inflict punishment 458 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,120 on any individual who appears to be 459 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,120 communicating via Morse code or any other form 460 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,920 of encryption system. 461 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,920 Denton is desperate to communicate 462 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,640 with any of the other POWs there, 463 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,840 but he's terrified of any more torture. 464 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,840 So Denton starts devising an entirely 465 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,960 new code based on the sounds he hears all around him, 466 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,480 and that the guards would never think twice about-- 467 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,240 coughs and sniffs. 468 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:12,600 Due to the terrible conditions, 469 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:13,960 practically all the inmates 470 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:15,960 have some sort of respiratory problem. 471 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,320 So coughs and sniffs will easily 472 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,840 fall under the cover of the current 473 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:22,200 environmental conditions. 474 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,920 With this new code, a single cough means one, 475 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,800 a cough or a sniff twice means two, 476 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:33,800 and so forth and so on. 477 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,800 Using a standard five by five grid, 478 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,560 where each letter is designated two numbers 479 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,040 between one and five, 480 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,720 the airmen are able to spell out full messages 481 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,360 to each other without anyone ever detecting it. 482 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,440 Denton wants to speak to more 483 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,680 than his fellow prisoners. 484 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,040 What he dreams of is to be able to tell 485 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,520 the outside world of the brutal conditions 486 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,360 being endured by POWs. 487 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,840 One time out of the blue, 488 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,120 Denton got an incredible opportunity. 489 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:07,920 After nearly 10 months of captivity, 490 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,520 the guards informed Denton that the following day 491 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,320 he is to be interviewed in front of a global audience. 492 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,240 Denton is told that this 493 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,160 media appearance is very important, 494 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,240 and he is warned to be on his best behavior. 495 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:22,600 It's entirely likely that, if he doesn't comply, 496 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:23,600 he'll be killed. 497 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,480 How can he tell the world what's happening 498 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,960 without his captors finding out? 499 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,320 Denton's solution is ingenious and so sensitive, 500 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,600 it remains secret for years to come. 501 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,800 Morning comes, and Denton 502 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,640 is taken out of his cell, blindfolded, 503 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,760 and driven away from the prison. 504 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:46,800 He finds himself in a nicely-appointed room, 505 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,720 sitting in front of a Japanese journalist and crew. 506 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,600 Denton has no idea how 507 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,760 he can subvert this interview. 508 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:56,560 But then it's action. 509 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,640 The lights go on, and he's temporarily blinded, 510 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,040 and he squints and blinks to try to avert 511 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,920 the light from his eyes. 512 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,520 And then the idea comes to him. 513 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,600 Denton is answering the questions 514 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,320 in the way that his captors want him to. 515 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:25,200 But his eyes are telling a completely different story. 516 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,280 Denton's blinking is actually spelling out 517 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,320 a message in Morse code. 518 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:37,560 The message spells out one word, "torture." 519 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,400 In plain sight, with the world watching, 520 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:45,840 Denton spells out "torture" in Morse code again and again, 521 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,560 a single word that says it all. 522 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,840 The North Vietnamese don't notice what Denton is up to, 523 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,440 and the broadcast is actually transmitted worldwide. 524 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,000 This is big news. 525 00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:59,720 It's the first indication that 526 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,840 the United States has that North Vietnam 527 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,040 is violating the Geneva Convention. 528 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:07,920 Denton has no idea 529 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,240 if his message has been heard. 530 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,000 The U.S. authorities never make public 531 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:13,760 his blink code, fearful that it would lead 532 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:15,600 to more extreme consequences, 533 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,040 like more beatings or even execution. 534 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,200 He doesn't find out that his code 535 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,400 was actually received until 1973 536 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:25,320 when he's finally released. 537 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,280 A year later, Denton is awarded 538 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:32,000 the Navy Cross for his conduct during captivity. 539 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:33,680 But the full story of his ordeal 540 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,240 remains unknown until 1975, 541 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:40,720 when he publishes his memoir, "When Hell Was In Session." 542 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,000 And now the world finally discovers the story 543 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,600 of Denton's courageous blinking code. 544 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:54,600 What if I told you that a key part of beating 545 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,720 the Nazi's unbreakable Enigma code 546 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:58,800 was a bunch of Ohio factory workers 547 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:00,600 who made cash registers? 548 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,360 It's a wartime secret so sensitive 549 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,880 that it remains under wraps for more than 50 years. 550 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:12,800 In the early 1940s, 551 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,560 it's open season in the North Atlantic 552 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,520 for Nazi submarine wolfpacks. 553 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,560 The German Navy is sinking vast numbers of Allied ships. 554 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:22,800 From the summer of 1940 555 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,560 into the spring of 1941, hundreds of allied ships 556 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,880 are sent to the bottom of the Atlantic by German U-boats. 557 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:35,120 It's what the U-boat crews gloatingly call the happy time. 558 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,000 The secret weapon behind all this 559 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:41,520 is the Enigma device, a code machine the Nazis used 560 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,520 to encrypt orders to their submarine fleet. 561 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,240 If the Allies are to escape the U-boat attacks, 562 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:50,560 this code needs breaking. 563 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,640 But that's no easy task. 564 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,520 The Enigma machine is a typewriter-like device 565 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,960 that's used to encrypt messages and then unencrypt them 566 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,000 so they can be read normally. 567 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:05,080 For the process to work, both the sending and receiving 568 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,080 Enigma machines have three rotors 569 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,480 that have to be set to the same configurations. 570 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,840 And those are determined by using the key from a code book. 571 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,120 Unless you had the code book 572 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,920 and the setting sheets, 573 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,840 it is impossible to solve this by simple trial and error. 574 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,680 Then, in 1941, the British 575 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,520 have a major stroke of luck. 576 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,680 Their Navy captures an enemy U-boat 577 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,040 with an intact Enigma machine plus codebooks. 578 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,440 Now they are able to use their own decryption device, 579 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,080 which they call the bombe. 580 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,880 Overnight, they can now listen to encrypted 581 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,320 German communications. U-boat patrols are tracked. 582 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,680 Thousands of lives are saved. 583 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:50,320 But nine months later, 584 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,360 the German Navy decides to ramp up their security. 585 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,840 In February of 1942, the Germans quietly 586 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,560 roll out a new version of the Enigma machine 587 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,560 that has now a new fourth rotor. 588 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,080 Adding that single extra dial results in the number 589 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,840 of extra settings possible for encrypting the codes 590 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,680 increasing exponentially. 591 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,400 There are now 92 septillion different ways 592 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,160 to set up a German 4-rotor Naval Enigma machine. 593 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,800 It's a complete disaster for the Allies, 594 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:24,720 and they are completely locked out 595 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,920 of German Naval-encrypted communications. 596 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,440 U-boats basically go on the rampage again. 597 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:34,840 The British need a much faster 598 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,160 version of the bombe. 599 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:38,840 And that means not having to design 600 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:40,760 a mechanical decryption device, 601 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,120 but an electronic one. 602 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,760 The British are struggling to produce these machines, 603 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:47,640 so they turn to the United States, 604 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,640 and they ask for assistance. 605 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,720 Washington starts looking for someone 606 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,800 to build this new, improved bombe. 607 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,280 They need a visionary engineer with a team 608 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,840 of electronics experts in a vast manufacturing space. 609 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,880 They find all three in Dayton, Ohio, 610 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,480 at the National Cash Register Company, 611 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,120 or NCR. 612 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,080 The NCR is a world leader in electronics, 613 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,160 and they just invented the world's first 614 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:16,760 electronic accounting machine 615 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,920 that runs at a million pulses per second, a megahertz. 616 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,080 NCR has an enormous 617 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,320 production facility in Dayton. 618 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,080 They're led by Joseph Desch, an engineer 619 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,600 who has an intrinsic grasp of the potential of electronics. 620 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:36,560 Desch designs a way 621 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,280 of scaling up the British bombe, 622 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,280 utilizing the might of American engineering. 623 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,240 The biggest issue is it comes with an incredible price tag, 624 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,320 around $4 million each. 625 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,200 It also weighs over 2 and 1/2 tons. 626 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,160 So it needs to be built in a special room of the NCR 627 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,320 with one of the first steel-reinforced 628 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,320 concrete floors in the United States. 629 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,920 The Navy signs off on the costs, 630 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,000 and Desch's team gets building. 631 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:06,800 The process is relentless, 632 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,000 with the team working seven days a week. 633 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,160 Finally, on May 28, 1943, 634 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,280 after 11 long months, Desch's super sized bombe 635 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,000 gets its first test. 636 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,880 Inside the NCR, 637 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,560 Desch switches on the machine. 638 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,760 And he feeds it an Enigma M4 message. 639 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,600 The machine starts up. 640 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,160 It begins to whine. 641 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:34,680 And then the machine stops. 642 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,760 It seems like an electrical short circuit, 643 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,000 and the teams are deflated. 644 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,320 But suddenly it springs back to life. 645 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,520 And incredibly the machine scores a hit. 646 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,560 It prints out the precise key used to encipher the message. 647 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,360 They then use that key to set the rotors 648 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,600 on their own Enigma machine. 649 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,760 They can then decipher the code and reveal 650 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,040 the original message. 651 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:01,840 Desch has done it. 652 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,480 He sends the results direct 653 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,400 to the codebreakers in Washington. 654 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,280 Soon, Desch's machines 655 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,640 are being put to work decrypting German messages. 656 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,720 The Americans and the British are actually 657 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,040 decrypting Enigma messages faster 658 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,800 than the German recipients are. 659 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,080 After NCR and its decryption machines 660 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,920 start going into action, 661 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,200 the tide turns against the German U-boat commanders. 662 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,280 It stops being a happy time, 663 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:30,680 and it starts becoming a Nazi-hunting time. 664 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:34,800 For over 50 years, 665 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:36,840 the Dayton codebreakers' contribution 666 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,960 to breaking Enigma remains classified. 667 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,000 Desch and the women who made the U.S. bombe 668 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,720 take their secrets to the grave. 669 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:52,400 Only in 1995, after a campaign by Desch's daughter, 670 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,840 is their role finally acknowledged. 671 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:00,600 It's 1968. 672 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:01,880 Someone is selling the U.S. Navy's 673 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:03,720 top secrets to the Soviets, 674 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,680 and the Navy brass have no idea it's even happening. 675 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,880 When the truth is finally revealed after two decades, 676 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,000 it's not by the FBI or the CIA. 677 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,000 It's by a disgruntled spouse. 678 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,960 Senior U.S. Naval officials are a bit troubled. 679 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,640 Time and again, their opponents seem to gain the upper hand 680 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,560 on them and anticipate their moves 681 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,600 with almost clairvoyant skill. 682 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,240 From tracking their subs in the Atlantic 683 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,360 to eventually dodging bombing raids in Vietnam, 684 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:40,560 they sense that something is up. 685 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,120 The U.S. has no idea how this is happening. 686 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,360 It's as if the USSR has cracked U.S. Naval codes. 687 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,720 To U.S. commanders, that's a ludicrous suggestion. 688 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,960 At this time, the U.S. Navy uses 689 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,320 one of the world's most advanced coding machines, 690 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,760 known as the KW7. 691 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,080 It is one of the first fully electronic coding machines, 692 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,400 faster and more secure than ever before. 693 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,080 In order to break this code, 694 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,280 the enemy would have to get their hands on a KW7 machine 695 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,520 and have access to the key cards 696 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,600 that are necessary to operate it. 697 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,600 Those key cards, however, are changed out regularly, 698 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,320 usually about once a month. 699 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,880 And that means that even if the Soviets get their hands 700 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:25,480 on a machine, well, they'd still have 701 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:27,560 to have the latest key card in order 702 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,480 to figure out what a coded message says. 703 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,920 The Soviets have got their hands on some KW7s 704 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,560 after a U.S. ship was captured in North Korea. 705 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,640 But because the captured machines didn't have key cards 706 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,040 with them, the U.S. Navy believed that their code 707 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:43,400 was still secure. 708 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:45,440 A series of security breaches followed, 709 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:50,200 but the Navy is sure that this is just a run of bad luck. 710 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:51,680 It's not just bad luck. 711 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:53,840 It's something far worse. 712 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,840 Their top secret code is no longer secret. 713 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,280 The truth is first discovered 714 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,240 not by a cryptography specialist, 715 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,640 but by a housewife in Virginia. 716 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,160 Barbara Walker is the wife of John Walker, 717 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,040 a radioman in the U.S. Navy. 718 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,920 From the outside, they have a happy life with four kids. 719 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,240 They'd had money troubles before, 720 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,760 but now they live a very comfortable life, 721 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,560 a fact she puts down to John's rising career. 722 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,240 One day, Barbara Walker comes across something strange. 723 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,880 Tucked away in a closet is a grocery bag 724 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,880 stuffed with classified Navy documents. 725 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,200 And they've been hidden away there by John. 726 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,600 When confronted, Walker comes clean. 727 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,040 He's been stealing top secret information 728 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,120 and passing it to the Soviets in exchange 729 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:41,720 for millions of dollars. 730 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:43,960 Among John Walker's responsibilities 731 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,480 is taking care of these KW7 seven cards. 732 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,400 It's his duty and responsibility 733 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,640 to destroy the old ones and to safeguard the new ones. 734 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,240 But instead of doing that, 735 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,800 he's sending them to the Soviets. 736 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:58,480 Once they have the keycards, 737 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,200 the Soviets can decode the American messages 738 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,240 that they recorded over the previous month. 739 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:05,880 The Soviets then tunnel 740 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,040 their way into at least a million 741 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,080 encrypted Naval messages. 742 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:11,680 It's the most damaging 743 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,760 code breach in U.S. history, 744 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,280 and the Americans don't even know it's happening. 745 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:17,960 For over ten years, 746 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,480 John is able to intimidate Barbara 747 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,000 into keeping his secret. 748 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,120 Barbara is terrified of her husband's temper. 749 00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:27,720 And she fears that, if she goes to the authorities, 750 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,560 she might lose her kids. 751 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,440 Over the years, John secretly drags more family members 752 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,240 into his twisted spy world, including 753 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,760 one of their adult sons. 754 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,280 Then in 1984, Barbara finally 755 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,120 breaks John's hold over her. 756 00:34:44,240 --> 00:34:46,440 Barbara learns that John recently attempted 757 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,640 to pull their daughter in. 758 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:50,560 Even though the daughter refused, 759 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:55,080 she picks up the phone and calls the FBI. 760 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,040 She tells them about the drops, 761 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,520 what he's doing, how this all works. 762 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,240 As they listen, they see the KGB patterns at play. 763 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,000 Furthermore, as they investigate Walker, 764 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,160 it becomes clear that he has a little more cash 765 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:10,720 than one should for his station. 766 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:15,320 And he's taking some rather odd trips at odd times. 767 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,040 But they need more than 768 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:18,920 just circumstantial evidence. 769 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,680 So they attempt to catch John in the act. 770 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,560 In May 1985, the FBI trails Walker 771 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,960 to a wooded area near Washington, DC, 772 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,200 and watches him hide a package before leaving, 773 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:33,720 a classic dead drop. 774 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,000 Agents move in and retrieve the documents. 775 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:37,920 It's a goldmine. 776 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:43,480 Inside, they find 129 pages of classified material. 777 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,960 John is arrested at his hotel room just a few hours later. 778 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,360 Faced with the prospect of life in prison, 779 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,000 Walker does the only thing he can. 780 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:55,520 He makes a deal. 781 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:57,800 In exchange for his full confession, 782 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:02,160 he negotiates a more lenient sentence for his son, Michael. 783 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,960 John Walker is sentenced to life in prison. 784 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:08,160 For the Russians, this has been 785 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:09,880 a brilliantly simple strategy. 786 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,240 Their code breakers haven't had to crack anything. 787 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,640 All they had to do was crack open the checkbook. 788 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,200 The story explodes across the media, 789 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,440 along with Walker's stinging comment 790 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,400 that Kmart has better security than the Navy. 791 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,440 When the story of this domestic spy ring 792 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,440 goes public, it reveals huge flaws 793 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,800 in U.S. Naval security, 794 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,920 leading to the implementation of new security measures 795 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:38,840 to ensure this won't happen again. 796 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:45,640 It's New York in 1919. 797 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,200 A poker prodigy is lying in bed. 798 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,000 He's about to doze off when he's 799 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,320 struck by a flash of inspiration, 800 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,360 one that will help him crack a notoriously 801 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:56,400 difficult Japanese code. 802 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:01,600 In the aftermath of World War I, 803 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:03,840 American leaders have learned a hard lesson. 804 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,560 Information is power. 805 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,160 So if you can read other nations codes, 806 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:13,000 you can know what your enemies and even your friends 807 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,040 are really thinking. 808 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:16,880 Even in peacetime, 809 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:18,800 Washington doesn't want to rely on what other governments 810 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:20,800 choose to tell them, 811 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,240 so they decide to start cracking 812 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:25,520 other countries' codes. 813 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:27,960 The U.S. turns to an unlikely establishment 814 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,400 that publishes puzzle books from a nondescript brownstone 815 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:33,160 in New York City. 816 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,560 It's the secret headquarters of the U.S.'s 817 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:37,600 most advanced code-breaking operation, 818 00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:39,840 called the Cipher Bureau, 819 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:41,960 an outfit so secret that it doesn't 820 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:43,800 even officially exist-- 821 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,280 essentially, a U.S. government black op. 822 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:49,520 The young man who runs this 823 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,080 is Herbert Yardley, a prodigy with a flair 824 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:53,560 for numbers and puzzles. 825 00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:55,720 In fact, he funded his education 826 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,280 through poker winnings. 827 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,120 Working for the State Department, 828 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,280 he secretly cracked a coded message, 829 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,480 meant only for the president in just two hours. 830 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:09,280 From there, Yardley's skills land him his own gig, 831 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,320 running the secret codebreaking team for the U.S. government 832 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,240 under its cover as a puzzle publisher. 833 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,560 Yardley and his Cipher Bureau 834 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,760 break all kinds of codes for the U.S. government. 835 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:25,120 Around 20 countries have their messages 836 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,560 cracked by Yardley's outfit. 837 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:30,960 The Cipher Bureau's most fiendish challenge 838 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,760 is cracking Japanese coded telegrams. 839 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:39,120 These are concerned with Japanese and U.S. negotiations 840 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:41,520 over a Naval Arms Limitation Treaty. 841 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:45,600 Yardley's Cipher Bureau is given 842 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,160 a collection of diplomatic cables from Japan to decode. 843 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:50,400 And this is a monumental challenge 844 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,560 because, even before you consider any encryption, 845 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,640 Japanese is incredibly complicated. 846 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:58,760 Instead of a 26-letter alphabet 847 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,320 like we have in English, they have the kana, 848 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,680 which is a collection of every possible syllable sound, 849 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,960 and there are 73 of those. 850 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:10,840 Despite the scale of the challenge, 851 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:12,760 Yardley vows that if he doesn't break the code 852 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:16,000 within a year, he will resign. 853 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:18,320 But after half a year, Yardley still can't 854 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:19,760 discern any real patterns. 855 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:21,760 He's really starting to wish he hadn't been 856 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,680 so hasty offering to resign. 857 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:28,120 Yardley dedicates so much of his time to breaking the codes 858 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,960 that he even starts dreaming about them. 859 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:34,200 And one night, inspiration strikes. 860 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,240 Suddenly, he's able to pick out 861 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,120 the Japanese word for Ireland in the telegrams. 862 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,160 Irish independence is in the news right now, 863 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:43,680 and the Japanese are discussing it 864 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,360 in their diplomatic telegrams. 865 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:48,600 Now it's like he has the corner of a jigsaw puzzle, 866 00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:50,080 and he builds out from this, 867 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:52,640 cracking one syllable and then another. 868 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,880 And finally, after six months, 869 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,400 Yardley and his team have the Japanese code 870 00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,640 completely defeated. 871 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:01,200 Yardley's work helped 872 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:04,400 secure a historic peace deal on U.S. terms, 873 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,400 and Yardley is rewarded with a Distinguished Service Medal. 874 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:10,280 But this becomes the high point 875 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,040 of his code-breaking career. 876 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,800 By 1929, after a series of funding cuts, 877 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,560 Yardley's Cipher Bureau is closed for good. 878 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:20,760 But because it didn't officially exist, 879 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:23,160 he's not able to draw a civil service pension. 880 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,960 So in the end, he ends up broke. 881 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:27,800 Feeling betrayed, 882 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:29,720 Yardley decides to publish a tell-all book 883 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,360 called "The American Black Chamber." 884 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,600 This effectively makes him the Edward Snowden of his time, 885 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:36,920 but it also makes him a small fortune. 886 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,360 He rakes in the equivalent of half a million dollars 887 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,040 in today's currency. 888 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,880 The U.S. government is outraged by Yardley 889 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:45,960 having gone from their secret puzzle nerd 890 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,240 to a rogue operator. 891 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,160 Yardley's book is an embarrassment 892 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,240 to the U.S. government. 893 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,320 Because of it, some 19 nations are alerted 894 00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,440 that their codes have been broken 895 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:01,480 by the United States. 896 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:05,760 They can't throw him in jail because only limited laws exist 897 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,720 on spilling state secrets. 898 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,200 In March of 1933, 899 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:12,240 Congress amends the Espionage Act 900 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,680 by passing an act for the protection 901 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:16,280 of government records. 902 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,200 This prohibits the disclosure of anything sent in code. 903 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,360 These laws Yardley inspired 904 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:25,200 become informally known as the Official Secrets Act, 905 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,240 and they still bind government officials today. 906 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,600 From a prison cell to battlefields, 907 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:37,040 secret codes are a vital way nations hide information 908 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,080 from their enemies. 909 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:41,680 But for every locked door, there is a key, 910 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,680 and for every code, 911 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,200 a genius mind trying to crack it.