FLAGSTAFF - Keith Little envisioned a place that would house the stories of the Navajo Code Talkers and where people could learn more about the famed World War troops who used their native language as a weapon.
His family now hopes to carry out his dream of a $43 million museum near the Arizona-New Mexico border that also will hold wartime memorabilia and serve as haven for veterans.
Little, one of the most recognizable of the remaining Code Talkers, died of melanoma Tuesday at a Fort Defiance hospital, said his wife, Nellie. He was 87.
Little was 17 when he joined the Marine Corps, becoming one of hundreds of Navajos trained as Code Talkers. They used a code that was based on the Navajo language, then unwritten. Their code helped confound the Japanese and win the war.
