Frank Toledo

Navajo Code Talker, Cpl., Frank Toledo

Died August 14, 1970

Navajo Code Talker | US Marine Corps | World War II
Frank Toledo and his cousin Preston Toledo sending coded messages.

Military Decorations

Congressional Silver Medal

Burial Site: SFNC, Section V, Site 1780

CPL Frank Toledo was born on 10 October 1924 in Penastaja, New Mexico. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 17 October 1942. He was assigned to the 11th Marine Regiment, an artillery unit deployed to the Pacific Theater in World War II. Toledo’s dates of service indicate that he would have worked to provide secure communications for his unit at the battles for Guadalcanal, New Britain (including the capture of Aogiti Bridge, as depicted in the map below), Peleliu, and Okinawa. He was also photographed in a now famous image taken of himself and his cousin Preston Toledo in Australia in 1943. In this photo, his cousin Preston is sending a message while CPL Toledo encoded or decoded that message. CPL Toledo was honorably discharged on 9 January 1946 at Camp Pendleton. He died on 14 August 1970.  

The role and contribution of the Navajo Code Talkers in maintaining security of communications was underscored by tests in the Pacific Islands that “proved that classified messages could be translated into Navajo, transmitted, received, and translated into English quicker than messages that were encoded, transmitted, and decoded employing conventional cryptographic facilities and techniques.”i  

Frank Toledo and his cousin Preston Toledo sending coded messages.

Preston Toledo (left) and Frank Toledo (right) in Australia. Find-a-Grave. Photo added by NEIL O’CONNOR on 17 Nov 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3883209/frank-toledo#view-photo=307722640

Frank Toledo gravestone

Frank Toledo gravestone. Find-a-Grave. Photo added by Renee Ryan Urbanski on 11 May 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3883209/frank-toledo#view-photo=204527602

Congressional Silver Medal Awarded to Navajo Code Talkers

Congressional Silver Medal Awarded to Navajo Code Talkers

Map of the Capture of Aogiri Ridge, New Britain, January 1944iii

Map of the Capture of Aogiri Ridge, New Britain, January 1944iii

The Cannon Cockers, 11th Marines insignia

The Cannon Cockers, 11th Marines

Notes:

[i] Marine Corps University, “Navajo Code Talkers in World War II,” July 2006. https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/People/Navajo-Code-Talkers-in-WWII/, accessed July 12, 2023.  

[ii] “Photo of Navajo Code Talkers Preston Toledo and Frank Toledo,” July 7, 1943. https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-online/exhibits/show/native-americans-then-and-now/item/606#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=188%2C36%2C701%2C378, accessed July 13, 2023.  

 [iii] Robert Emmet, A Brief History of the 11th Marines (Washington, D.C., 1968) 15. 

Prepared by Dr. Andy Hernández, Western New Mexico University 

 

Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Find Your Veteran 

https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/?utm_source=Veterans%20Legacy%20Memorial&utm_campaign=cem