Exactly how many code talkers served, and how many Native languages, like Mvskoke, were used is still largely unknown because of varying degrees of documentation, the existence of both official and unofficial code talker programs, and a dwindling population of actual participants. An estimated more than 600 code talkers from 33 tribes served in the two world wars, but some people suspect that others have been lost to history.

The legend of the code talkers is one that has, for the most part, been documented since the declassification of the program in 1968. However, there are only a handful of Native veterans who have had their stories chronicled. As part of an ongoing series, Al Jazeera America hopes to document the experiences of Native veterans and how war affects tribes, cultures and lives.

“Where the grass is green, there was a house there. This is where Andrew grew up,” said Rick Harjo, Edmond Andrew Harjo’s nephew, as he looked into a thicket of trees where only a dilapidated wood shack once used for storage remained.

“Right there, there’s a well lined with rock,” said Harjo as he peered deeper into the woods. “It had some of the coldest water. We would use it as a refrigerator — put the butter and the milk down in that well, and it tasted cold. So that’s the old home site.”

Nineteen years before the elder Harjo was born, two young Seminoles were burned alive by a mob of white settlers, who accused them of the murder of a white woman, a crime they most likely didn’t commit. The two men grew up on a land allotment adjacent to Harjo’s childhood home, which burned down around 1960. No trace of it remains today. Nearby, a cotton field once grew, as well as a cattle pasture. There’s also a school, where Edmond Andrew Harjo (to his family he was always Andrew) most likely learned the piano, which he played until his death.

“He just loved the music,” said Rick. “He worked on exercising his hands all the time because he was afraid of arthritis getting into his hands and then he couldn’t play anymore.”