[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 144 (Thursday, September 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S4510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING SAMUEL F. SANDOVAL, SR.

  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, it is my honor to recognize the heroic 
life of Samuel F. Sandoval, Sr., who passed away on July 29, 2022. Mr. 
Sandoval had been one of the last four remaining Navajo Code Talkers 
who served during World War II and whose unbreakable code using the 
Navajo language delivered military communications and played an 
indispensable role in America's victory in the Pacific.
  Mr. Sandoval was Naasht'ezhi Dine'esh, Zuni Clan, and born for 
Tl'aashchi'i, Red Cheek People. He was born on October 24, 1923, in 
Kimbeto, NM, near Chaco Canyon and graduated in 1942 from the Navajo 
Methodist Mission School in Farmington, NM, where he was discouraged 
from using the Navajo language.
  He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in March of 1943 and completed 
his basic training Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA, where 
the original 29 Code Talkers had arrived the previous fall. After 
transferring to Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA, he and other Code 
Talkers created more than 600 codes using words from the Navajo 
Language. As one of the 418 Navajo Code Talkers, he used the 813-word 
Navajo code to securely send and receive military communications.
  Mr. Sandoval served in five combat tours, including Guadalcanal, 
Bougainville, Guam, Peleliu, and Okinawa, before his honorable 
discharge in January 1946. In recognition of his military service, Mr. 
Sandoval received the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, a Combat Action 
Ribbon, a China Service Medal, a World War II Victory Medal, a Navy 
Occupation Service Medal with Asia Clasp, and an Asiatic-Pacific 
Campaign Medal with a silver star, in lieu of five bronze stars.
  After the war, Mr. Sandoval earned a degree in substance abuse 
counseling from the University of Utah. He worked for many years as a 
counselor, assisting Navajo people experiencing alcohol addiction and 
substance use disorders at his clinic, To-Tah Alcohol Counseling.
  Like other Code Talkers, Mr. Sandoval had strict orders not to 
discuss their secret mission during the war or until it was 
declassified decades later in 1968. After their role was revealed 
publicly, Mr. Sandoval and his late brother, Merrill Sandoval, took 
immense pride in their experiences as Code Talkers and worked to 
educate the public about their contributions. Mr. Sandoval told his 
personal account in both a book and documentary titled, ``Naz Bah Ei 
Bijei: Heart of a Warrior.''
  In 2001, Mr. Sandoval received a Congressional Silver Medal from 
President George W. Bush in recognition of his service as a Code 
Talker. Earlier this year, during his last trip away from home, Mr. 
Sandoval received American Spirit Award for Bravery from the National 
WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA. He was looking forward to attending the 
groundbreaking for the Navajo Code Talker Museum in Tse Bonito, NM, 
which took place on National Navajo Code Talkers Day on August 14.
  My thoughts are with his widow, Malula, his surviving siblings, his 
six children, his 33 grandchildren, his 33 great-grandchildren, and all 
those on the Navajo Nation and in New Mexico who he inspired through 
his incredible life of service.

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