For more than two decades , Chester Nez kept silent about his role as one of the original Navajo code talkers responsible for developing an unbreakable code during World War II . His death Wednesday at his home in Albuquerque , New Mexico , at age 93 was lamented by the Marine Corps as the end of an era -- for both the country and its armed forces . `` We mourn his passing but honor and celebrate the indomitable spirit and dedication of those Marines who became known as the Navajo code talkers , '' the Marines said in a statement . Nez was the last remaining of the original 29 Navajos recruited by the Marine Corps to develop the legendary code that was used for vital communications during battle . He was a teenager when he was recruited in 1942 and assigned with the other code talkers to the Marine Corps ' 382nd Platoon at Camp Pendleton . Together , they created a code , including developing a dictionary . Military authorities chose Navajo as a code language because its syntax and tonal qualities were almost impossible for a non-Navajo to learn , and it had no written form . The ranks of the Navajo code talkers swelled to more than 300 by the end of the war in 1945 . The code talkers were forbidden from telling anyone about it -- not their fellow Marines , not their families -- until their work was declassified in 1968 . The original 29 were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2001 by President George W. Bush . `` In developing our code , we were careful to use everyday Navajo words , so that we could memorize and retain the words easily , '' Nez told CNN in 2011 while promoting his book `` Code Talker . '' `` I think that made our job easier , and I think it helped us to be successful in the heat of battle . '' Still , Nez said he worried every day that an error might cost the life of an American military service member . Nez was among the code talkers who were shipped out to Guadalcanal in 1942 , where the code talkers worked in teams of two , with one relaying and receiving messages while the other cranked the portable radio and listened for errors in transmission . `` That was my first combat experience , and there was a lot of suffering and a lot of the condition was real bad out there , '' he told CNN 's Larry King in 2002 . Nez also fought in Guam and Peleliu . `` When bombs dropped , generally we code talkers could n't just curl up in a shelter , '' Nez wrote in his book . `` We were almost always needed to transmit information , to ask for supplies and ammunition , and to communicate strategies . And after each transmission , to avoid Japanese fire , we had to move . '' The code talkers faced initial resistance from fellow Marines who did not understand who they were and what they were doing . That changed once they understood the importance of the code , Nez said . The Navajo code baffled the Japanese , who had successfuly deciphered codes used by the U.S. Army . After the war , the Japanese chief of intelligence , Lt. General Seizo Arisue , admitted they were never able to crack the Navajo code used by the Marines and Navy , according to the Navy . Nez was discharged in 1945 , but later volunteered to fight in the Korean War . After the code talkers ' exploits were declassified by the military , the group gained legendary status with books and , ultimately , a movie that was inspired by their stories . `` The recognition of the code talkers came late , but it has been good for my Navajo people . I hope that this type of recognition continues across cultures , '' Nez said . The 2002 film `` Windtalkers , '' starring Adam Beach and Nicolas Cage , followed the fictional account of two Marines assigned to protect two code talkers during the battle of Saipan . `` I could understand when they sent the message and received on the other end , '' Nez said . `` I could understand , and I could sit there and write it down myself . I still remember it . '' It was a far cry from his childhood , when he was forced to attend a boarding school and punished by the teachers for speaking Navajo , according to his book . It 's a language , though , that appears lost even to many members of his own family . `` My own children do not speak Navajo , although my daughter-in-law ... speaks it well , '' he said . Nez said he decided to tell his story because he wanted to share the contributions and sacrifices of the Navajo during World War II . `` Our Navajo code was one of the most important military secrets of World War II . The fact that the Marines did not tell us Navajo men how to develop that code indicated their trust in us and in our abilities , '' he said . `` The feeling that I could make it in both the white world and the Navajo world began there , and it has stayed with me all of my life . For that I am grateful . '' The Navajo Nation 's flags have been ordered lowered in Nez 's honor , President Ben Shelly said . People we have lost in 2014 .
As a child , Chester Nez was punished for speaking Navajo . Nez says recognition as a code talker came late , but was good when it did . Nez was one of 29 Navajos recruited to develop the code . Nez served as a code talker in the battles of Guadalcanal , Guam and Peleliu .