Hundreds of salmon are now spawning in Klamath River tributaries above the 4 recently dismantled dams for the first time 60 & 112 years. It is exciting and bodes well for the future. Still, it will take several years for fish runs to recover & there is still much more work to do.
John Kinsel Sr., one of the last surviving Navajo Code Talkers, died on Saturday at age 107.
“He lived a very long, full and accomplished life. What he and the other Code Talkers accomplished changed the course of history, and will always be remembered, and I will continue to tell his legend and greatness,” Kinsel’s son, Ronald Kinsel, said in a statement issued by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
The U.S. Marine Corps recruited Navajo men during World War II to send secret communications using the Navajo language, also known as Diné Bizaad. Hundreds of Navajo Code Talkers sent thousands of messages error-free that stumped Japanese cryptologists and helped the U.S. win in the Pacific during the war.
Kinsel was born in Arizona and lived in the Navajo community of Lukachukai. He enlisted in 1942 and served with the 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Marine Division.
Photo by Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President media staff.