County honors Navajo Code Talkers with memorial
Statue will be unveiled during ceremony on Friday
- Several other memorials already have been placed at the entrance to the administration building.
- Navajo leaders and state lawmakers have been invited to Friday's ceremony.
FARMINGTON — San Juan County will honor the contribution and service of Navajo Code Talkers with a monument that has been placed outside the entrance to the San Juan County Administration Building in Aztec.
The memorial will be unveiled during a dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday at 100 S. Oliver Drive.
County Commissioner Wallace Charley said the entrance area to the county offices already is the site of several memorials, including lists of names of local members of the military who died in the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan conflict. He said the new memorial is one way the county can honor the code talkers.
County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter said the stone memorial includes inscriptions of the code used by the Navajo code talkers.
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"It's something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, and it's well deserved," Carpenter said.
He said the Navajo Code Talkers are a valuable part of the heritage of San Juan County and the Navajo Nation, and the memorial will act as a tribute to their sacrifices.
Charley said the county has invited Navajo leaders and state legislators to the unveiling. He said the county is also hoping to have leaders from the surrounding municipalities at the ceremony.
"I believe that this is one way to tell the neighbors on the Navajo Nation that the county honors them and respects them," Charley said.
Hannah Grover covers government for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4652 or via email at hgrover@daily-times.com.