U.S.
Felicia Fonseca/File/AP
The last of 29 Navajo Americans who developed an unbreakable code that helped Allied forces win World War II has died in New Mexico of kidney failure at the age of 93.
Chester Nez was the last survivor of an original group of Navajos recruited by the U.S. Marine Corps to create a code based on their language that the Japanese could not crack.
His son, Michael Nez, said his father died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday at their Albuquerque home.
"He had been battling kidney disease, and it seems like the disease won," Michael Nez told Reuters. "He's the last of a great era, a great part of history."
About 400 code talkers eventually used the Navajos’ unique battlefield cipher to encrypt messages sent from field telephones and radios throughout the Pacific theater during the war.
It was regarded as secure from Japanese military code breakers because the language was spoken only in the U.S. Southwest, was known by fewer than 30 non-Navajo people and had no written form.
The Navajos' skill, speed and accuracy under fire in ferocious battles — from the Marshall Islands to Iwo Jima — are credited with saving thousands of U.S. troops' lives and helping shorten the war. Their work was celebrated in the 2002 movie "Windtalkers.”
The president of the Navajo Nation, Ben Shelly, said he had ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of Nez.
"It saddens me to hear the last of the original code talkers has died," Shelly said. "We are proud of these young men in defending the country they loved using their Navajo language."
The Marine Corps said in a statement that it mourned Nez's passing, and honored and celebrated "the indomitable spirit and dedication" showed by him and his colleagues. "The incredible bravery, dedicated service and sacrifices of Mr. Nez and his fellow code talkers will forever remain part of the proud legacy of our corps and will continue to inspire generations of Marines," the statement said.
Last November, the American Veterans Center honored Nez for bravery and valor above and beyond the call of duty, awarding him the Audie Murphy Award for distinguished service.
"I was very proud to say that the Japanese did everything in their power to break that code but they never did," Nez said in an interview with the Stars and Stripes newspaper the day before receiving the award.
Nez and his young fellow recruits were called communications specialists by the Marines and were taught Morse code, semaphore and blinker, a system using lights to send messages between ships.
The code they developed substituted Navajo words for military terms. “Chay-da-gahi,” which translates to "turtle," came to mean a tank, and "gini," "chicken hawk" in English, became "dive bomber." America was "ne-he-mah," "our mother."
The code talkers, whose actions were recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2001, served in all six Marine divisions, and 13 were killed in World War II.
Nez volunteered to serve two more years during the Korean War. He retired in 1974 after a 25-year career as a painter at the Veterans Administration hospital in Albuquerque.
Shelly said the Navajo Nation was drafting a proclamation in honor of Nez that it plans to present, along with the Navajo Nation flag, to his relatives. Nez is expected to be buried at the Santa Fe National Cemetery next week.
Reuters
Saying goodbye to the last Seminole code talker
Over 110,000 convene in Albuquerque for the largest powwow in the world
The conflict in the Middle East is becoming a central issue in the politics of the Navajo Nation
LGBT advocate plans to make case for marriage rights before top Indian court, despite entrenched cultural conservatism
Dirty legacy of previous mines has set up debate over both environmental and economic concerns
Error
Sorry, your comment was not saved due to a technical problem. Please try again later or using a different browser.