Ariz. Navajo Code Talker dies of cancer

Updated: Thursday, 28 May 2009, 11:15 AM MDT
Published : Thursday, 28 May 2009, 11:15 AM MDT

PARKER, Ariz. (AP) - A second Navajo Code Talker has died within a week.

Thomas Claw died Tuesday after a battle with cancer at age 87.

Claw was part of an elite group of Navajo Marines who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language.

Son Harold Claw says his father freely spoke to groups about his role in the war until his health began to decline in recent years.

Claw was born in the Navajo community of Chinle in northeastern Arizona. He moved to an area near Parker in western Arizona in the late 1940s, where he and his wife raised a family.

Services are set for Saturday.

Fellow Code Talker John Brown Jr. died last Wednesday at his home in Crystal, N.M.

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Ariz. Navajo Code Talker dies of cancer

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