Navajo Code Talker's Association VP Passes Away

Samuel Tso, the vice president of the Navajo Code Talker's Association passed away at the age of 89 this month.

Samuel was born June 22, 1922, at Black Mountain near Many Farms, Ariz., into a poor family. He was Zuni Tachiinii and born for Nakai Dine'e.

As a youth, he helped his family as a sheep herdsman, but also was interested in boxing and pursuing his education.

He attended local schools until going to a nearby boarding school, where the instructors often punished him for speaking his native language.

"Then, the nation called for him to use that same language," said Samuel's son, Ron Tso.

At 17, Samuel enlisted in the United States Marine Corps by claiming he was 21 years old, in order to be eligible for the military. He relocated to Camp Pendleton in Southern California, where he learned to be a code talker.

Samuel watched the original 29 code talkers leave for war while training. He and his unit learned the second version of the code.

"They bounced back between different versions of the code," said Ron.

Samuel loved sharing tales of the code talkers with his family and with audiences nationwide.

One of his favorite stories was when Samuel had reached Iwo Jima, an island that hosted one of the most intense battles between American and Japanese troops.

Samuel's unit reached the island just days before the battle began. While many of his comrades were overcome by fear, Samuel's concern was assuaged by a vision of a Native American maiden who told him he would return home safely.

The next day, a string of juniper beads arrived in the mail in an unaddressed envelope.

"He put [the beads] on and, as a result, he didn't have fear," said Ron.

Samuel returned from the war and went to college to pursue a career as a teacher. He attained a bachelor's degree at Utah State University and a master's degree at Arizona State University before acting as an instructor and involved youth advocate on school boards and committees.

"He advocated for the youth to get their education," said Yvonne Tso, Samuel's daughter.

Sharing the significance of the Navajo language became Samuel's mission up until his final days. His family hopes to honor his legacy by continuing his efforts to build the National Navajo Code Talkers Museum and Veterans Center to be constructed in Window Rock, Ariz.

"When I talked to my dad, I told him I would make his dream a reality," said Yvonne.

The Navajo language was used in the Pacific theater in WWII to confound Japanese codebreakers- throughtout the war, the Japanese were unable to decipher the communications being sent in the Navajo language. So effective were the Code talkers that the program remained classified for another 20 years in the event that a similar cipher program could be used in another armed conflict.

The program was declassified in 1968, and with the program no longer a state secret the Navajo Codel Talker's Association was formed a few years later in the early 1970s. Since then the Navy has even archived the Code Talker's Dictionary online.

Samuel's daughter Yvonne said that he had hoped to live long enough to see the completion of the proposed Navajo Code Talker's Museum and Veteran's Center in Window Rock, AZ completed. Currently, one of the largest exhibits on the Navajo reservation relating to the Code Talkers is presently located at a Burger King run by the son of one of the Code Talkers in Kayenta, AZ.

Donations made on behalf of Samuel Tso for the nascent Code Talker's museum can be made either online at the Code Talker's Association website or by regular mail at P.O. BOX 1266, Window Rock, AZ 86515.