/ Modified jun 12, 2018 10:15 a.m.

Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tom Holiday Dies at Age 94

Holiday will be buried on the Navajo Reservation in Kayenta.

Samuel tom holiday view larger VIEW LARGER Samuel Tom Holiday, a World War II Navajo Code Talker, died Monday, June 11, 2018, at the age of 94.
U.S. Marine Corps

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Samuel Tom Holiday, one of the last surviving Navajo Code Talkers, died Monday in southern Utah.

He was 94.

The Spectrum reports Holiday's granddaughter, Tya Redhouse, says Holiday died in the evening, surrounded by friends and family who traveled to be with him.

Holiday, who used his native language to create an uncrackable code to help win World War II, spent his later days living at the Southern Utah Veterans Home in Ivins.

Navajo leaders believe fewer than 10 Code Talkers are still alive today. The exact number is unknown because the program remained classified for several years following the war.

Redhouse says Holiday will be buried on the Navajo Reservation, in Kayenta, Arizona, next to his wife.


Learn more about the Navajo Code Talkers on Arizona Spotlight.

navajo code talkers VIEW LARGER Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific.
U.S. Marine Corps
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona