ross haskie

Born: August 16, 1916, Kearns Canyon, Arizona

Died: september 12, 1976, blanding, utah 

Ross Haskie was born August 16, 1916, in Kearns Canyon Arizona. He joined the Force Signal Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific as a Corporal in April 1945. ¹ His service ended 12 January 1946. ² Although not one of the original twenty-nine Code Talkers, Haskie joined them as they were working on the code and served with them throughout the war. According to Chester Nez, after they (the original 29) had finished the alphabet code they asked for three Navajo-speaking military men to help with the military terms. Ross Haskie, along with Felix Yazzie and Wilson Price, were pulled from their Marine duties to help with the code. ³

Ross Haskie attended the Albuquerque Indian School, graduating in 1937. While at Albuquerque Indian School Haskie was a recognized athlete, participating in track, basketball, and football. Serving as captain of all three teams he is described by the Albuquerque Tribune as a natural leader and one of the greatest athletes ever produced at the school. ⁴ He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Arts from the Arizona State Teachers School in Flagstaff Arizona in 1940, where he also participated in athletics. His athletic affiliation followed him into the Marines. In an article from the Albuquerque Journal, July 4, 1942, Pvt. Louis Hernandez, former Menaul coach, reported rumors that the Marines were planning to organize an All-Navajo platoon that may include, among others, Ross Haskie, former Albuquerque Indian and Flagstaff football star, along with Carl Gorman and John Benalli [sic]. ⁵

According to Zonnie Gorman it is likely that some of the original twenty-nine had known Haskie and requested that he join them. Chester Nez, Roy Begay, and Allen Dale June had been students at Tuba City Indian School and John Benally had also been teaching at the school ⁶ Wilsie Bitsie remembered that Ross, being one of the college-educated men, became the moderator of the group of men at Camp Elliott. ⁷

According to Chester Nez, after working to develop the code the three men who joined the Code Talkers later went into battle with the other 29, leading Nez to say for him it was really the original 32. ⁸ In his memoir Nez described Ross as “a big guy who looked kind of like a white man.” ⁹ Nez also said “I wish that the three additional men who helped develop the code—Felix Yazzie, Ross Haskie, and Wilson Price—had also been awarded gold medals. ¹⁰

Haskie married Pauline Donzilgi in 1941in Flagstaff and was working as a teacher at the Tuba City Indian School when he enlisted. ¹¹ After returning from the war he moved to Santa Fe and taught at the Indian School there, where he was also a coach. 

According to his obituary, he died in Blanding, Utah 12 September 1976 and had, for the prior four years served as principal of Mexican Hat Elementary School. Prior to that he had taught and worked at BIA schools as an administrator. Survivors are his wife Linda and several step-children.¹²

IMAGES AND DOCUMENTS

Notes:

1. U. S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 – Ancestry.com

2 U. S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019 – Ancestry.com

3. Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila. “Unbreakable: The Navajo Code.” Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila – Accessed 7/9/2023. https://www.historynet.com/unbreakable-navajo-code/
4. The Albuquerque Tribune, 22 April 1936. Pg. 6
5. Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saturday July 4, 1942, page 2.
6. Gorman, Zonnie “The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II: The First Twenty-Nine” p. 104
7. Gorman, p. 98
8. Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila. “Unbreakable: The Navajo Code.” Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila – Accessed 7/9/2023. https://www.historynet.com/unbreakable-navajo-code/
9. Nez, Chester with Schiess Avila, Judith., Code Talker: P. 119
10. Nez, Chester; Schiess Avila, Judith. Code Talker p. 390
11. Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972 – Ancestry.com
12. The San Juan Record, Monticello, Utah, Thursday, September. Pate 3

Prepared by Sue Taylor, PhD. Central New Mexico Community College staylor61@cnm.edu

Featured Image:

Ross Haskie gravestone. Find-a-Grave.Photo added by NEIL O’CONNOR on 02 Feb 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17545188/ross-haskie#view-photo=311690541