David Moya - Smith : The death of original code talker Chester Nez is a significant cultural loss . He attended public schools that discouraged the use of his Navajo language . Author : Native American elders say when a person dies , so does the culture . `` You could board a plane or hop a ship today and travel to your home country and hear your people 's language reverberating off Italian walls . Without the use of the Navajo language , the U.S. military could have lost a soldier , author says .
David Moya - Smith : The death of original code talker Chester Nez is a significant cultural loss . He attended public schools that discouraged the use of his Navajo language . Author : Native American elders say when a person dies , so does the culture . Without the use of the Navajo language , the U.S. military could have lost a soldier , author says .