FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2011, file photo, Leland Anthony, Arizona Rep. for Indian Health Incorp., left, speaks with Navajo code talker Joe Vandever Sr. during Native American Day at the roundhouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers who used their native language to confound the Japanese in World War II has died. Joe Vandever Sr. died of health complications Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in Haystack, New Mexico, west of Grants, according to his family. He was 96. Tribal leaders called Vandever a "great warrior" and a "compassionate family man," and asked Navajos to keep his spirit and his family in their prayers. (Jane Phillips/The New Mexican via AP)
January 31, 2020 /Local News

Navajo Code Talker dies at 96; less than a handful remain

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) – One of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers who used their native language to confound the Japanese in World War II has died.

The family of Joe Vandever Sr. says he died Friday of health complications in Haystack, New Mexico. He was 96.

Tribal leaders called him a great warrior and a compassionate family man.
He was among hundreds of Navajos who served in the U.S. Marine Corps transmitting messages using a code based on the Navajo language. It was never broken.

His death leaves less than a handful of Navajo Code Talkers still alive.

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