Chester Nez, the last of the original 29 Navajo code talkers, died Wednesday morning, June 4th 2014.
Navajo President Ben Shelly ordered flags be flown at half staff in Window Rock, the Navajo reservation capital.
Nez was the last living member of the U.S. Marines who created the first unbreakable code that baffled the Japanese during World War II.
Nez, 93, died of kidney failure, according to family members. He lived in Albuquerque, N.M., with his son Michael Nez.
“He was a very important man in my life and I will always speak his name,” Michael Nez said in a telephone interview. “I’m going to miss him very much.”
Chester Nez grew up in Chi Chil Tah, among the oaks, in Jones Ranch, N.M. When World War II broke out, young Nez was at Tuba City Boarding School. On a spring day in 1942, U.S. Marines came to the boarding school, looking for Navajo boys.
Nez said he signed up because he was eager for an adventure. He wanted to see what was on the other side of the butte, where he had never traveled.
He and the other 28 Navajo Code Talkers developed a code using their language.
“Sadly, we have lost the last surviving member of the original 29,” Shelly said. “His passing closes another chapter in the annals of Navajo history. Chester Nez and the rest of the original 29 now belong to the ages. We salute their valiant service and memory.
“Since time immemorial, the Navajo language, Dine’ bizaad, has been our shield and protector,” Shelly added. “The power of our language was shared with the world during World War II when the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers stepped forward for service.”
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