thedrifter
12-03-06, 08:12 AM
Published: 12.03.2006
Navajo Code Talker, 84, dies
Only 4 survive from Pacific WWII group
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Palmer, one of the last of the original Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, is dead at 84.
Palmer died Nov. 18 at the VA Medical Center in Tucson, according to his family.
As a Marine in World War II, Palmer and 28 other Code Talkers used their native language to transmit military messages on enemy tactics, Japanese troop movements and other battlefield information by telephone and radio.
According to the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C., the Navajo Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 and were praised for their skill, speed and accuracy.
Their work was impossible for the enemy to decode.
Surviving members received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000 for their service.
At that time, only five remained: Palmer; Lloyd Oliver of Phoenix; John Brown Jr. of Navajo, N.M.; Chester Nez of Albuquerque; and Allen Dale June of West Valley City, Utah.
The last four are still alive.
Health reasons kept Palmer from making the trek to Washington, D.C., in 2000, so his son, Kermit, accepted the honor for his father.
"He had a real strong passion about his country and … his service to his country," Kermit Palmer said. "At the same time, he was very humble and did not want recognition for doing his duty."
After the war, Palmer and the others were told to keep the Navajo code a secret.
Even after the information was declassified in 1968, they were reluctant to discuss it or take credit for their deeds.
Kermit Palmer, administrator for the Cocopah Tribe in Somerton, said his father didn't mention the code until the early 1970s when the family was watching a parade on television.
"The announcer made mention that the Code Talkers were marching, and he made a comment and said, 'I'm the original code talker,' " Kermit Palmer recalled.
Besides his son, Palmer is survived by his wife, Flora; a granddaughter; and eight brothers and sisters.
Palmer was buried Saturday at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Yuma.
Ellie
Navajo Code Talker, 84, dies
Only 4 survive from Pacific WWII group
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Palmer, one of the last of the original Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, is dead at 84.
Palmer died Nov. 18 at the VA Medical Center in Tucson, according to his family.
As a Marine in World War II, Palmer and 28 other Code Talkers used their native language to transmit military messages on enemy tactics, Japanese troop movements and other battlefield information by telephone and radio.
According to the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C., the Navajo Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 and were praised for their skill, speed and accuracy.
Their work was impossible for the enemy to decode.
Surviving members received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000 for their service.
At that time, only five remained: Palmer; Lloyd Oliver of Phoenix; John Brown Jr. of Navajo, N.M.; Chester Nez of Albuquerque; and Allen Dale June of West Valley City, Utah.
The last four are still alive.
Health reasons kept Palmer from making the trek to Washington, D.C., in 2000, so his son, Kermit, accepted the honor for his father.
"He had a real strong passion about his country and … his service to his country," Kermit Palmer said. "At the same time, he was very humble and did not want recognition for doing his duty."
After the war, Palmer and the others were told to keep the Navajo code a secret.
Even after the information was declassified in 1968, they were reluctant to discuss it or take credit for their deeds.
Kermit Palmer, administrator for the Cocopah Tribe in Somerton, said his father didn't mention the code until the early 1970s when the family was watching a parade on television.
"The announcer made mention that the Code Talkers were marching, and he made a comment and said, 'I'm the original code talker,' " Kermit Palmer recalled.
Besides his son, Palmer is survived by his wife, Flora; a granddaughter; and eight brothers and sisters.
Palmer was buried Saturday at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Yuma.
Ellie