At 101, Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay carries the story of Iwo Jima
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Thomas H. Begay, 101, one of the last two living Navajo Code Talkers, wears his scarlet-and-gold garrison cap Aug. 14, 2026, in Flagstaff. Begay served with the 5th Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he transmitted military messages using the Navajo code.
FLAGSTAFF
At 101, Thomas H. Begay, one of the last two living Navajo Code Talkers, sat in a Flagstaff hotel lobby on the evening of Aug. 14, National Navajo Code Talkers Day, still wearing the scarlet-and-gold garrison cap of the code talkers from a ceremony at the state Capitol in Phoenix hours before.
Behind wire-rimmed glasses, his gaze settled somewhere beyond the room as he recalled events more than eight decades old.
His son Ron Begay, a retired Army officer, sat beside him, gently steering the conversation between English and Diné bizaad and letting the silences run if they needed to.
What came back first was not the war. It was sheep.
“I was just at home herding sheep,” Begay said of the years before the war reached him. “My dad, my mom, they had a lot of sheep. So that really support.”
To read the full article, please see the Aug. 20, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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