One Of The Last Navajo Code Talkers Dies At 94
"One of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers, who relayed messages that were
never decoded by enemies in World War II, has died at age 94."
"Alfred Newman died Sunday afternoon at a New Mexico nursing home, one of his sons, Kevin Newman, tells NPR."
"He says his father was a quiet yet courageous man. 'My dad told me that the U.S. was in trouble and when they were calling for him, he needed to answer that call with the armed forces,' he says."
"As a boy, Alfred Newman attended a boarding school that, like many schools at the time, forbade Indian students from speaking in their native tongue, Dine."
"That complex language proved to be vital to the United States during World War II. As the Japanese cracked classified U.S. military codes, armed forces turned to members of the Navajo Nation. The messages they transmitted in the Pacific Theater were impenetrable to enemies."