Navajo Code Talkers Association

Cpl. Alfred Peaches

Alfred Peaches was born April 28, 1925 , in Kayenta on the Navajo reservation in Arizona . He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, in November 1943. Following radio communication training in Camp Pendleton , Oceanside , California , Alfred served with the 6th Marine Division in Guadalcanal , Okinawa , Saipan , and North China . In March of 1945 he returned to the United States . Alfred remained in the Corps after WWII. In July of 1953, then Corporal Peaches, along with the 1st Brigade, 2nd Battalion, D Company, shipped out to the Korean conflict and saw action again. Corporal Peaches returned to the U.S. in 1954, was discharged from the Marine Corps two years later and returned to Fort Defiance , Arizona . Mr. Peaches now resides in Winslow , Arizona with his wife Jeanette and their two girls and three boys.

Merril Sandoval

Merril Sandoval grew up on the eastern Navajo reservation in New Mexico where he was born in 1925. At the time of his mother's death in 1931, Merril had just begun first grade. He learned English for the first time at Farmington Mission School . In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Marines in Santa Fe , N.M. After attending Boot Camp in San Diego , Merril was transferred to Camp Pendleton to be further trained at the Radio Communication School , as were many other fellow Navajo Marines. Merril served with the 2nd and 5th Marine Division in the Hawaiian Islands , Saipan , Iwo Jima , and occupation of Japan . He was discharged in 1946 as a Corporal, finished his high school education at Sherman Institute and Albuquerque Indian School and then went on to learn the trade of a machinist at Haskell Institute. Merril worked as a machinist for 15 years with Bendix Aviation in Kansas City , Missouri and Air Research in Phoenix , Arizona . When he returned to the Navajo reservation in 1964, he worked for the Navajo Tribal Police Department, for D.N.A Legal Services and as private tribal advocate and interpreter for the tribal legal courts. Merril and his wife, Lorraine currently resides in Tuba City , Arizona where they raised their two sons and three daughters. Merril's older brother Samuel Sandoval, is also a Navajo Code Talker.

Pvt. Samuel Tso