Late Navajo Code Talker's uniform to be displayed

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) – A Navajo Code Talker's uniform that had been locked away in a storage unit will be displayed at the tribal museum.

The uniform belonging to the late George Kirk Sr. will be unveiled Thursday ahead of a parade honoring the Code Talkers. Kirk was among hundreds of Navajos who used a code based on their native language to confound the Japanese during World War II.

He died in 1999, and some of his belongings remained in a storage unit that was auctioned off.

Navajo President Ben Shelly says he contacted a military historian who was ready sell the uniform and asked that it be given to the Navajo Nation. Craig Gottlieb says he was honored to do so.

Shelly says the uniform symbolizes the strength of the Navajo language.