RIP Chester Nez. We appreciate your service, your special service to be sure. God Bless your family sir.



FARMINGTON — The last member of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers has died.

Chester Nez, of Albuquerque, died Wednesday morning of kidney failure, according to The Associated Press.

Nez, 93, was part of the group of code talkers who transmitted messages in a code based on the Navajo language during the Pacific Theater of World War II.

He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 and became a member of the all-Navajo 382nd Platoon.

Nez served as a corporal and saw combat in Guadalcanal, Guam, Peleiu and Bogainville, according to a press release from the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President.

He was honorably discharged in 1945.

Nez also served in the Marine Corps Reserves and returned to combat in the Korean War.

"I am very proud that I was able to serve my country. I did my part for our country and for my people, and it has been a great pleasure for me to do my duty," Nez said in 2011 when he visited Aztec.

Nez was born on Jan. 23, 1921, in Chichiltah. He was Dibé Lizhiní (Black Sheep), born for Tsénahabilnii (Sleeping Rock People).

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