The Last of the Navajo 'Code Talkers' Dies at 93

Chester Nez, the last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers passed away at his home in Albuquerque, NM on Wednesday.

Nez helped to develop an encrypted version of the Navajo language for the federal government to use during wartime. The language which Nez grew up speaking, was unsurpassed by others at a time when our country needed it the most. This language helped the United States secure a victory during the summer of 1945 in WWII.

Nez was raised during a time when Native American children were taken off reservations and put into boarding schools. While there, they were forbidden to speak Navajo. If they were caught speaking the language, they were either beaten or had their mouths washed out with soap.

"All those years, telling you not to speak Navajo, and then to turn around and ask us for help with that same language," he told USA Today in 2002. "It still kind of bothers me."

Recruited as a teenager in 1945, Nez and the other 'Code Talkers' took on a critical task and responsibility. "We acted as coding machines, transmitting messages that would have taken a couple of hours in just a couple of minutes," Nez said in a 2012 interview with the website ArmchairGeneral.com. "We could never make a mistake, because many communications involved bombing coordinates."

A 'Code Talker' was handed a written message in English, he would then take to the radio and relay that same message, encoded, to his fellow countryman on the other end. This person, who received the message, would translate the memorized code to English and pass it on.

"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 Stars and Stripes.

Judith Avila, who co-wrote "Code Talker" with Chester Nez, stated "In Navajo culture particularly, language is so sacred... The Navajo language could not be separated from the creation of the earth. ... It was considered part of the creation."

The recognition of code talkers came several years after the war ended. It wasn't until 1968 that the Code Talkers operation was declassified and the men involved were able to receive recognition for their service.

In 2008, President Bush signed the "Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008." The purpose of this act was to honor Native American code talkers and to give them immediate recognition for their dedication and valor; Honor and Recognition that was long overdue.