Senator Shannon Pinto Issues Statement on Passing of Joe Vandever Sr., Navajo Code Talker
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Chris Nordstrum
(415) 601-1992
Chris.Nordstrum@nmlegis.gov
February 4, 2020
SANTA FE — New Mexico State Senator Shannon Pinto (D – McKinley, San Juan), granddaughter of the late Senator John Pinto, issued the following statement following the death of Joe Vandever Sr.
“On behalf of the Pinto family as well as the New Mexico Senate, I offer my deepest condolences to Joe Vandever’s family and loved ones,” said Senator Pinto. “Every Code Talker sacrificed a great deal to protect and defend our nations, and it is imperative that the legacy each of them leaves is never forgotten. Our nations suffer a great loss with the approaching culmination of their final salute. We honor Joe Vandever for his life-long warrior service.”
Vandever, who passed on January 31 in Haystack New Mexico, was the fifth Code Talker to die since January of 2019. New Mexico State Senator John Pinto, elected in 1977, died in office on May 24, 2019. Only a few of the Code Talkers are still living.
During last year’s legislative session, a bipartisan group of legislators, along with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, pledged over a million dollars of their allotted capital outlay funds to build a Navajo Code Talkers Museum and Visitors Center in New Mexico to honor the service of the approximately 400 Navajo servicemen who used their unique language skills to transmit top secret messages during WW II.
Burial services for Vandever will be on Thursday February 6th, 1:30pm at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
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