Photo Credits: Associated Press, Arizona Republic
Chester Nez passed away yesterday. He was 93 years old and lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And you say why was he so special? Because Chester Nez was the last surviving member of the original Navajo Code Talkers, the brave young men from Arizona and New Mexico who devised an unbreakable code to defeat the Axis powers during World War II.
Chester grew up in the village of Chi Chil Tah in New Mexico, but due to cutbacks in sheep grazing forced upon the Navajo by the U.S. government, Chester was sent to a boarding school in Tuba City, Arizona. There he learned English and in 1942 the United States Marine came looking for Navajo boys to recruit them for an unusual assignment. Most of these young men had never been outside the Navajo Reservation.
A short article about Chester and the Code Talkers can be found at this link from the Arizona Republic if you're interested. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/06/04/arizona-navajo-code-talker-dies-nez/9965201/
The following photos, which appeared in my blog(s) in January 2010 were taken at the Code Talkers memorial on the grounds of the Arizona state capitol.
It is believed that between 375 and 420 Navajos served as Code Talkers during World War II.
The code devised by these young men is the only unbroken code in modern military history.
Little is known about the individual Code Talkers as they were not publicity-seekers and simply returned home from the war and blended into their culture and society.
12 comments:
i heard that on the news and was saddened, too. especially this d-day anniversary week. bless them all.
What a wonderful group the young men were!
May you rest in peace Chester and thank you for a job well done!
This is fascinating and so nice of you to remember him in this way.
Wonderful post Kathy.
The things I learn from other bloggers is one reason I keep blogging. This post is truly fascinating. May Chester Nez rest in peace. God bless him.
Thank you for a wonderful post. I saw that he passed and was saddened. I love going to pow wows. They honor their "warriors" as we should ours...
I am SO glad that you posted this tribute to a phenomenal group of men. An amazing story. Several years ago, actually more than a decade, some of them came to an airshow in Minnesota and I was awed!
Your post is a wonderful tribute, Kathy. I wrote a short story called the Navajo Code Talkers in a book I co-wrote called Ultra Hush-Hush in 2003, so was touched when I learned the last one had died.
What a beautiful tribute Kathy. It's hard to believe these men are all gone now.
this is a wonderful post, Kathy! It hasn't been very long ago that the world finally learned about these brave men, now all gone.
There is another sculpture much like this one at Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park. I have posted pictures of it a couple years ago.
God bless him! he and his fellow code-talkers did a monumental service to their country. How nice of you to post this! I didn't even hear about his passing!
Bought a book for the kiddo and I to read about the Code Talkers - While it's aimed at young adult readers, I think full-on adults will enjoy it. We will let you know if it's any good.
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