George B. Willie Sr. Navajo code talker passes

We hear the sad news this morning that George B. Willie Sr., who was a Navajo Code Talker at the battle for Okinawa with the 2d Marine Division, has passed at the age of 92 according to ABC 15;

He and other Navajos followed in the footsteps of the original 29 who developed the code and received the Congressional Silver Medal in 2001.

Willie is survived by his wife Emma, 10 children and several grandchildren.

A celebration of life is scheduled Dec. 8 at the Presbyterian Church in Leupp.

From Indianz.com;

Willie was only 18 years old when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He served from 1943 to 1946 but didn’t discuss his war efforts because the military told him and other Code Talkers to keep it a secret.

“Like many of our Code Talkers, Willie enlisted into the military at a young age and went on to courageously defend our freedom and liberty as the United States of America,” Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said in a press release on Tuesday.

The Code Talkers project was eventually declassified in 1968 though it took Willie some time for him to go public with his service, according to his daughter, Annabelle Smallcanyon.

“He kept to himself but after going to his first meeting with the Navajo Code Talkers, he was able to open up. I was then able to talk with him about it,” Smallcanyon said. “Later on as people would come up to shake his hand, he would stand tall and feel proud about his service as a Code Talker.”

Category: We Remember