OMS Osawatomie History Project – “Osawaopoly 1994” (May 2025)
A 7th-grade Elective class at Osawatomie Middle School recently completed a contest in which students developed a “Monopoly”-like game board based on 1994 Osawatomie news, events, and businesses. The final results showcase many hours of research into local newspapers and the students’ creative and imaginative minds.
Job well done, students!
Captain Thomas H. “Tommy” Dyer, United States Navy
Navy Distinguished Service Cross – August 1946
National Security Agency 2002 Hall of Honor Inductee
Captain Thomas H. “Tommy” Dyer, a native of Osawatomie, Kansas, was one of the Navy’s most influential cryptanalysts and a driving force behind U.S. codebreaking successes in World War II. As lead cryptanalyst at Station HYPO from 1936 to 1945, he helped break key Japanese naval codes—including JN‑25—providing intelligence that shaped victories at Coral Sea, Midway, and in the operation that downed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. His innovations in machine‑assisted cryptanalysis earned him recognition as “the father of machine cryptanalysis.”
For his exceptionally meritorious wartime service, Dyer received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. After the war, he played major roles in the Armed Forces Security Agency and the National Security Agency, where he helped establish the Agency’s first academic training programs and later served as its first historian. He retired from the Navy in 1955 and passed away in 1985.