Navajo Nation committee approves Purple Heart designation for veterans

The Navajo Nation’s Naabik’íyáti’ Committee moved to make that honor official, approving Legislation No. 0108-26 on June 11 in Window Rock. The measure would designate the Nation as a Purple Heart Navajo Nation, elevating recognition for Navajo veterans wounded or killed in action and for all Purple Heart recipients, living and deceased.

Sponsored by Council Delegate Otto Tso and co-sponsored by Casey Allen Johnson, Andy Nez and Rickie Nez, the legislation does more than add another title. It ties the honor to concrete needs in Navajo communities, including healthcare, mental health resources and the full benefits available to combat-wounded veterans. For families in McKinley County, where military service is woven into many households, that gives the designation immediate meaning beyond ceremony.

The council’s materials place the measure in a long arc of Navajo military service. They note that Diné soldiers have served in every major American conflict of the past century, including World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, the Gulf War and ongoing military operations. The release also says an estimated 3,600 Navajo men and women entered military service at the outset of World War II, a number that still resonates in chapter communities that carry that history through multiple generations.

The legislation also connects the Purple Heart designation to the Navajo Code Talkers’ wartime legacy and to the Navajo Code Talkers Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2000, which brought national recognition to that service. By drawing that link, the measure frames Purple Heart recognition as part of a broader story about Navajo sacrifice, sovereignty and public memory.

The committee’s action builds on an earlier step taken by President Buu Nygren, who on November 3, 2025, proclaimed the Navajo Nation a Purple Heart Nation and designated November 2025 as Purple Heart Month. That proclamation included ceremonies and the presentation of Purple Heart certificates to several Navajo veterans. The new legislation would move the recognition deeper into the Council’s process, signaling that the honor is becoming a formal part of Navajo governance, not just a one-time observance.