John Kinsel Sr. sat in the front row for the photo, on the far right side.
It was 1942, and he was a fresh-faced teenager, having graduated from St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe just a few months earlier. As World War II raged, he volunteered to join the Marine Corps and left for the recruit depot in San Diego.
That's where the photo was taken, in honor of his platoon's graduation from boot camp.
Kinsel had a special task ahead of him in the Pacific Theater: He would serve as a Navajo Code Talker, one of a select group of Marines who conveyed military orders in the Diné language, bewildering the Japanese forces and helping American troops gain ground.
Kinsel, one of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers, died in his sleep Saturday. He was 107.
Public officials from the Navajo Nation and beyond paid tribute to him over the weekend.
Crystalyne Curley, speaker of the 25th Navajo Nation Council, offered the entire council's sympathies to Kinsel's family.
"Beyond his legacy of a warrior, he was also a proud Navajo man who upheld the values of his heritage while serving this country with distinction," Curley said in a statement.
She added, "May his spirit rest in peace, and may his memory continue to inspire generations to come."
Fresh out of high school and in his early days as a Marine, Kinsel was given a kind of vocabulary test, he recalled in an interview with Library of Congress historians. He was asked about "big words" — infiltrators, amphibious, concentration.
He passed. "I went through just like that," Kinsel told the historians.
He served in Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Guam and Bougainville Island from 1943 to 1945, among the second cohort of Navajo Code Talkers sent to the Pacific. In his estimation, there were a total of about 200 Code Talkers.
Kinsel was honorably discharged in January 1946 and returned to his home community near Lukachukai, Ariz. He found work as an instructional aide at a school in nearby Chinley and built a log cabin for his family, according to a Library of Congress biography.
Kinsel's son, Ronald Kinsel, shared the news of his father's death Saturday with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
"Cheii passed early this morning in his sleep," Ronald Kinsel said in a statement. "The howling wind brought his parents and relatives that came for him early dawn today."
He said his father "lived a very long, full and accomplished life. What he and the other Code Talkers accomplished changed the course of history and will always be remembered, and I will continue to tell his legend and greatness."
In honor of John Kinsel's death, Nygren ordered all flags on the Navajo Nation be lowered to half-staff for a week, starting Sunday.
"It is appropriate for us to acknowledge, recognize and honor this distinguished man's life, bravery and steadfast dedication to his family, community of Lukachukai and to the entire Navajo Nation as a model Navajo citizen and warrior," Nygren said.
"His heroism, courage and love for our Diné way life is beyond measure," added Bobbie Ann Baldwin, executive director of the Navajo Nation Veterans Administration. "We salute you, Corporal Kinsel. Semper Fi."
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also mourned Kinsel.
"I invite my fellow New Mexicans and Americans to join me in reflecting on Mr. Kinsel's bravery and sacrifice in honor of his service to America and the Navajo Nation," the governor said in a statement Sunday.
Kinsel's death is a reminder of the importance of the Navajo Code Talkers Museum, which has been in development since 2019, Lujan Grisham added.
The museum, she said, would create a "lasting tribute to the remarkable stories of Navajo Code Talkers like John Kinsel, ensuring that future generations understand and appreciate their vital role in history."
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