Final Navajo Code Talker, John Kinsel Sr, Dies Aged 107

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John Kinsel Sr., one of the last surviving Navajo Code Talkers who used their native language to transmit messages during World War II, has passed away at the age of 107.

Navajo Nation officials announced Kinsel’s death from Window Rock on Saturday.


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To honor Kinsel, Tribal President Buu Nygren has ordered flags on the reservation to be flown at half-staff until sunset on October 27.

“Mr. Kinsel was a Marine who bravely and selflessly fought for all of us in the most terrifying circumstances with the greatest responsibility as a Navajo Code Talker,” Nygren said in a statement on Sunday.

With Kinsel’s passing, only two Navajo Code Talkers remain: Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald and Thomas H. Begay.

During World War II, hundreds of Navajos were recruited by the Marines to serve as Code Talkers, using their then-unwritten native language to transmit messages. These messages confounded Japanese military cryptologists and were crucial in all assaults led by the Marines in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, including pivotal battles at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima.

The Code Talkers successfully sent thousands of error-free messages regarding Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics, and other essential communications, significantly influencing the war’s outcome.

Kinsel was born in Cove, Arizona, and resided in the Navajo community of Lukachukai. Enlisting in the Marines in 1942, he became an elite Code Talker, serving with the 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan established Navajo Code Talkers Day to honor all tribes involved in the war effort. The August 14 holiday is recognized as both an Arizona state holiday and a Navajo Nation holiday on the vast reservation covering parts of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.