“If the location started with the letter ‘A’, then I would say ‘araka’ the Comanche word for ‘alligator,’” Cpl. Army website, words like bombers were dubbed “pregnant birds” and bombs were “baby birds.” Tanks were “turtles,” and Adolph Hitler was “crazy white man.” The Comanche also learned to spell out the words that lacked specific code equivalents by using random Comanche words. According to a 2017 article from the U.S. They also developed 250 code words to describe military and geographical terms for words without indigenous equivalents. They went to Fort Benning, Georgia, and served with the 4th Signal Company of the 4th Infantry Division.Īt Fort Benning, the Comanche Code Talkers received phone, radio, Morse code and semaphore training. In the winter of 1940, the Army recruited 17 members of the Comanche tribe to serve as Code Talkers. military recruited many different tribes to serve as Code Talkers for all branches of service. Armed Forces.Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay honors the Comanche Code Talkers who served as communication specialists during World War II battles in Europe.Ĭode Talkers were indigenous peoples who used their tribal languages to communicate across the battlefield. Military Service Records to learn more about American Indians in the U.S. Return to Researching American Indians Main Page Return to Indian Scouts and Code Talkers Main Page Lesson Plan to teach about the enlistment of Navajo Indains as Code Talkers during WWII Explore documents and resources related to Code Talkers in World Wars I and II Military Service Records The Army had similar training programs for its Code Talkers, who generally served in Europe and North Africa. By the end of the war, the Marines had over 400 Navajo men trained as Code Talkers, many of them serving in the Pacific Theater. Working with Navajo leaders, the Marine Corps initially recruited 29 Navajo men to train as Code Talkers in specially designed courses. entered World War II, military leaders remembered the success of the Choctaw Code Talkers and enlisted new recruits from the Navajo, Kiowa, Hopi, Creek, Seminole, and other tribes to encrypt messages for the Army and Marine Corps. The enemy never broke their “code,” and Allied leaders deemed their efforts a success.įor the remainder of the war, the Army continued to enlist soldiers from other tribes as Code Talkers, including the Cheyenne, Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, and Yankton Sioux. This team began transmitting battle messages in the Choctaw language. They selected two Choctaw officers to supervise a communications system staffed by eighteen other tribal members. Leaders of the 142nd turned to American Indian soldiers in the regiment for help. At the time, the enemy frequently intercepted Allied communications, inhibiting tactical plans and troop movements. Stationed in France in 1918, Choctaw Indians from the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, became the first Code Talkers. Records at the National Archives document the origins of this program and the group’s wartime contributions. Over the course of both wars, the Army and the Marine Corps recruited hundreds of American Indians to become Code Talkers. American Indians had their own languages and dialects that few outside their tribes understood therefore, their languages were ideal encryption mechanisms. military needed to encrypt communications from enemy intelligence.
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