Like thousands of other U.S. Navy Reservists, Howard T. Engstrom was a vital contributor to the Allied victory in World War II. He joined the reserves in the late 1930s. As a civilian, Engstrom was a highly distinguished professor of mathematics at Yale University. He was recalled to active duty shortly after the Japanese attacks in the Pacific in 1942. Soon after his recall, Engstrom was placed in command of the OP-20-G automated machines "Research Section." Improving the British design for Bombe, Engstrom and his team ultimately developed the "high speed" American Bombe that enabled Allied cryptanalysts to solve messages encrypted on the advanced M4 Enigma. In this photograph, Engstrom is receiving the Distinguished Service Medal from Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal.