Code Breakers: The Invisible Cryptologists

In 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marines, author Ralph Ellison began writing his award-winning look at black America, "The Invisible Man." As we look back through history, we find that many young black men and women trying to make it in America, hoping for a stake in the great American dream-- saw themselves as virtually invisible human beings.

This serial, of sorts, follows a black Washingtonian from almost 18 to 89 years old.

As a young high school senior in Washington, D.C., during World Ward II, James Pryde heard the call to serve his country. He signed up for the Army Air Corp with the promise of achieving officer status while defending his country from the air.

The NSA, an agency known for secrets, reveals one of its oldest. News4’s Barbara Harrison reports.

Segregation in the armed services meant few spaces for African-Americans for flight training so the promise wasn’t kept.

But he later rose through the civilian ranks serving his country.

At the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the U.S. had only a fledgling signal corps charged with developing secure codes for U.S. military communications. This organization, which years later would evolve into the National Security Agency, had a mission during war to intercept and solve enemy codes and decipher their secret messages.