Navajo code talker who helped allies defeat Nazis dies aged 107

One of the last remaining Navajo code talkers who helped the US and its allies win the second world war died over the weekend, according to officials.

The death of John Kinsel Sr, 107, on Saturday left just two living Navajo code talkers: his fellow US marines Thomas Begay and Peter MacDonald, who are both in their 90s.

A longtime resident of Lukachakai, Arizona, near the New Mexico state line, Kinsel was one of about 400 members of the indigenous Navajo nation who used their native Dine language to help create a code that allowed the US military to communicate securely during the second world war. The allied forces’ enemies never broke the code before their defeat.

Kinsel enlisted with the US marines in 1942, serving in their ninth regiment and third division during the battle of Iwo Jima against Japan. The code whose development Kinsel aided played a vital role in ensuring the security of operations that the American military conducted during campaigns in Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal and Okinawa, said a Navajo nation news release announcing his death.

He told the Guardian in 2015 that for decades no one knew what his assignment had been during his service with the marines. “Not even the Navajo nation knew,” Kinsel said at the time.

In an oral history archived by the Library of Congress, Kinsel described celebrating his return from the war by sharing a cigarette with his grandfather. “He cried, you know?” Kinsel said of the gesture.

As the Guardian noted, the American military then declassified the Navajo code talkers project in 1968, allowing Kinsel and his colleagues to be publicly celebrated for their contribution to the victory against Japan and the other Axis powers.

Kinsel told the person taking his Library of Congress oral history that the military gave him the code talkers medallion he was wearing around his neck during the conversation shortly after the project’s declassification. “So that was your first big award?” the interviewer asked.

Kinsel replied: “Big award, yeah.”

The US now annually recognizes 14 August as Navajo Code Talkers Day, and in 2002 they received the Hollywood treatment with the film Windtalkers.

“Beyond his legacy of a warrior, [Kinsel] was also a proud Navajo man who upheld the values of his heritage while serving his country with distinction,” nation speaker Crystalyne Curley said in the news release. “May his spirit rest in peace, and may his memory continue to inspire generations to come.”

The news release also contained remarks from Navajo governing council delegate Carl Slater, who called Kinsel “an American hero”.

His “legacy … is marked not only by his service but by his continued dedication to sharing the story of the Navajo Code Talkers with future generations,” said Slater, who represents the Lukachakai community where Kinsel resided.

Navajo nation president Buu Nygren said on the social media platform X that he learned of Kinsel’s death from his son, Ronald.

A statement attributed to Ronald Kinsel said what his father “and the other code talkers accomplished changed the course of history and will always be remembered”.

“He lived a very full and accomplished life,” the statement from Ronald Kinsel said of his father. “And I will continue to tell his legend and greatness.”