Navajo Code Talker dies at 96; less than a handful remain

Window Rock, Ariz. • One of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers who used their native language to confound the Japanese in World War II has died.Joe Vandever Sr. died of health complications Friday in Haystack, New Mexico, according to his family. He was 96.Tribal leaders called Vandever a "great warrior" and a "compassionate family man" and asked Navajos to keep his spirit and his family in their prayers.Vandever was among hundreds of Navajos who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, transmit