In 2012, we first wrote about Chester Nez.
“Code Talker,” by Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila became the first and only memoir by one of the original 29 Navajo code talkers of WWII. The book was dedicated to the 420 World War II Navajo Marine code talkers — men who developed and implemented an unbreakable communications system that helped ensure the American defeat of the Japanese in the South Pacific. You can read an excerpt of Code Talker on Judith Avila’s website.
After the war, the Code Talkers were instructed to keep their role in the war secret. The code was finally declassified in 1968, 23 years after the war’s end. Chester Nez was in 2012, the last surviving member of the original 29 code talkers.
Mr. Nez and Ms. Avila went on to publish a short electronic book, “The Life and Times of the Code Talker,” a follow-up to the Code Talker.
Chester Nez, last of the original group of 29 Navajo Code Talkers, passed away on 4 June 2014 in Albuquerque at the age of 93. Nez loved to tell his story to highlight his pride in serving his country and to stress the importance of preserving the Navajo language. In fact, he died with appearances still scheduled.
In order to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, Nez had to lie about his age. He and 28 other Navajo men went on to develop a code based upon their native language that became invaluable. Their work saved lives and enabled the success of many operations.
“There were no machines or other devices that could scramble voice communications that could be used on the front lines,” David A. Hatch, the National Security Agency’s historian, said in an interview. “What the code talkers did was to provide absolute security for the information we transmitted on the radios, denying to the enemy vital information that we were picking up from their communications.”