John Pinto, WWII Code Talker and Longtime New Mexico Lawmaker, Dies at 94

John Pinto, WWII Code Talker and Longtime New Mexico Lawmaker, Dies at 94
Sen. John Pinto talks about his career as a lawmaker on American Indian Day in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Feb. 2, 2018. AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File
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SANTA FE, N.M.—John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker in World War II who became one of the nation’s longest-serving Native American elected officials as a New Mexico state senator, has died. He was 94.

Senate colleague Michael Padilla confirmed Pinto’s death in Gallup on May 24 after years of suffering from various illnesses that rarely kept him from his duties.