NAVAJO CODE TALKER
Alfred K. Newman was born on July 21, 1924 in the Navajo Nation at Rehoboth, McKinley County, New Mexico. As a youngster he spoke the Navajo language at home but when he went to schools administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs he was required to speak only English and recalled that once in school he was heard speaking to another student in Navajo for which he was required to write 500 times the phrase, “I will speak only English.” On March 26, 1943, after learning that Navajo Indians were enlisting in the Marine Corps, he enlisted at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, and after training soon found himself assigned as a Navajo Code Talker. These marines spoke in their native Navajo language using special words which signified significant military meaning. Their code was so successful that the Japanese never broke the code during the war. As a Navajo Code Talker, Newman was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, and participated with troops in the Battles of Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. Following the end of the war he was honorably discharged on December 30, 1945.
After the war, Newman worked as an ammunition inspector at Fort Wingate. He then moved to Kirtland where he worked for a coal mining company at an open-pit mine overseeing blasting operations until he finally retired after 25 years. In 2017, Newman was one of several Navajo Code Talkers to be honored during a visit to the White House where they had a personal audience with the President. Newman died on January 13, 2019 in a nursing home in Bloomfield, New Mexico. He was survived by his wife of 69 years, 5 children, 13 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. He has been laid to final rest at the Newman-Denetsone Family Cemetery in Bloomfield, San Juan County, New Mexico.
The President of the Navajo Nation offered his condolences to Newman’s family at the time of Newman’s death and wrote, “Navajo Code Talker Alfred Newman was a hero, and he stood amongst giants. We will be forever grateful for his contributions and bravery, as well as that of each and every one of our Navajo Code Talkers. They are national treasures.”
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
