https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/obituaries/fleming-begaye-sr-dead.html
By Mihir Zaveri
The New York Times
May 11, 2019
Fleming Begaye Sr., a Navajo code talker in World War II who was honored at a
White House ceremony in 2017, during which President Trump mocked Senator
Elizabeth Warren’s claims of Native American ancestry, died on Friday in
Chinle, Ariz. He was 97.
His death was confirmed by his granddaughter Theodosia Ott.
Mr. Begaye, born in Red Valley, Ariz., in 1921, was a student at a boarding
school called Fort Wingate when he heard that the United States military was
looking for Navajo speakers, Ms. Ott said.
Mr. Begaye became one of more than 400 Navajo code talkers in the Marines. They
were recruited to create top-secret coded messages so the United States
military could safely communicate during battles, and are credited with helping
secure victory in the Pacific. While the Japanese were able to break other
military codes, they never broke the Navajo code.
Mr. Begaye survived the Battle of Tarawa, a costly offensive on a Japanese-held
Pacific atoll that took place in 1943. Out of 18,000 Marines who landed on
Betio, more than 1,000 died.
[...]
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