Navajo Code Talker Dies at 95

Code talkers used Navajo language in World War II
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 7, 2016 11:16 AM CDT
Navajo Code Talker Dies at 95
Navajo Code Talkers listen to speakers during their trip to New York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Another Navajo Code Talker has died in Arizona, the AP reports. Navajo Nation officials announced Tuesday that Joe Hosteen Kellwood died Monday at age 95. Kellwood was a Navajo Code Talker in the 1st Marine Division who served in World War II. He was trained at Navajo Code Talker's School at Camp Elliott in San Diego, Calif., and was the recipient of the Congressional Silver Medal for his service. The code talkers used the Navajo language to outsmart the Japanese in World War II. In a statement, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey noted that more than 430 code talkers "answered the call of duty following the Pearl Harbor attacks." There was no immediate word on funeral plans for Kellwood or a list of his survivors. (The last of the original code talkers died in 2014.)

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