Rest in Peace.
QuoteGeorge Smith, one of the Navajo code talkers who helped the U.S. military outfox the Japanese during World War II by sending messages in their obscure language, has died, the president of the Navajo Nation said.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/01/us/navajo-code-talker-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1
Godspeed Mr. Smith.
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"This news has saddened me," Ben Shelly, the Navajo president, said in a post Wednesday on his Facebook page. "Our Navajo code talkers have been real life heroes to generations of Navajo people."
Not only heroes to the Navajo people...may he rest in peace.
" When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."
-Tecumseh
(I know Tecumseh was Shawnee but the quote's sentiment is on target. ;))
Chester Nez, the last code talker from the original group has passed away. May he rest in peace.
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Chester Nez, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, died Wednesday morning of kidney failure, said Judy Avila, who helped Nez write his memoirs. He was 93.
Before hundreds of men from the Navajo Nation became Code Talkers, 29 Navajos were recruited to develop the code based on the then-unwritten Navajo language. Nez was in 10th grade when he enlisted, keeping his decision a secret from his family and lying about his age, as did many others.
Of the 250 Navajos who showed up at Fort Defiance — then a U.S. Army base — 29 were selected to join the first all-Native American unit of Marines. They were inducted in May 1942. Nez became part of the 382nd Platoon.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/04/last-original-group-navajo-code-talkers-dies/?intcmp=latestnews
RIP, Mr. Nez, and thank you for your service.
Another Code Talker has passed away. RIP Joe.
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Navajo Nation officials announced Tuesday that Joe Hosteen Kellwood died Monday at age 95.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/07/world-war-ii-navajo-code-talker-dies-in-arizona-tribe-announces.html
:'(
Salute.
Agreed.
https://twitter.com/USMC/status/988787351152463873
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2018/04/23/wwii-navajo-code-talker-roy-hawthorne-sr-dies-arizona-92/544509002/
:( RIP, and thank you, sir. I wonder how people are left that can speak Navajo?
Thank you for your service & sacrifice Roy. :notworthy: