Navajo Code Talker’s name now spans Cameron bridge
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
The Little Colorado River on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, can be seen flowing underneath a bridge that was named after the late Navajo Code Talker Jimmie Preston.
WINDOW ROCK
Eighty-one years after his service on Iwo Jima and 60 years after his death, Navajo Code Talker Jimmie Preston’s name now marks the U.S. Highway 89 bridge over the Little Colorado River in Cameron.
Family members, veterans, tribal officials and state lawmakers gathered April 20 for a ceremony unveiling signs formally renaming the span the Jimmie Preston Memorial Bridge.
The dedication came nearly a year after the Arizona Legislature passed House Concurrent Memorial 2006, which called for state and federal geographic naming boards to honor Preston, a Cameron resident who served with the 5th Marine Division during World War II.
Completed in 2016, the newer span named for the Navajo code talker crosses the Little Colorado River next to the historic suspension bridge that has stood since 1911. It carries U.S. 89 traffic on one of the main roads linking northern Arizona to southern Utah.
To read the full article, please see the May 14, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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