Culture Exchange Highlight

Last surviving Navajo Code Talker tells his story
Seventy years ago, during World War II (WWII), the U.S. Marine Corps asked 29 Navajo men to help them fight the Japanese. These men became known as the Navajo Code Talkers and created a complex code of secret communications for the U.S to use in the war. The Code Talkers could translate the messages in a matter of seconds. Even to this day, the code has not been broken.

Chester Nez is the only survivor of the original 29 Code Talkers. In November, National Public Radio interviewed Chester. He told listeners that even though he was just in high school, he joined the Marines because his family raised him to be a warrior and defend his country. Now, 90-years-old, Chester said the Code Talkers are a significant group in U.S. history. They proved how important minority groups can be to helping the nation.

In the interview, Chester said, “I think there was something that was very important to us and also the people of the United States that the Navajos were chosen to speak their own language. But I was very lucky and very, very, very proud to be one of the Navajo Code Talkers.”

Learn more about the Navajo Code Talkers at www.NavajoCodeTalkers.org.

Chester Nez as a young man. Chester is the last surviving
Navajo Code Talker. Photo credit: Fronteras Desk (From Flickr)