FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Samuel Sandoval, one of many final remaining Navajo Code Talkers who transmitted messages in World Conflict II utilizing a code based mostly on their native language, has died.
Sandoval died late Friday at a hospital in Shiprock, New Mexico, his spouse, Malula advised The Related Press on Saturday. He was 98.
Tons of of Navajos had been recruited from the huge Navajo Nation to function Code Talkers with the U.S. Marine Corps. Solely three are nonetheless alive immediately: Peter MacDonald, John Kinsel Sr. and Thomas H. Begay.
The code, based mostly on the then-unwritten Navajo language, confounded Japanese army cryptologists. The Code Talkers are celebrated yearly on Aug. 14, the day the Japanese surrendered.
Malula Sandoval mentioned her husband had been wanting ahead to collaborating within the celebration this yr and seeing a museum inbuilt honor of the Code Talkers.
“Sam all the time mentioned, ‘I wished my Navajo children to be taught, they should know what we did and the way this code was used and the way it contributed to the world,’” she mentioned Saturday. “That the Navajo language was highly effective and all the time to proceed carrying our legacy.”
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