David Vergun
When the topic of military code talkers comes up, many think of the Navajo code talkers of World War II who operated as Marines in the Pacific Theater. This association was bolstered following the 2002 release of the film “Windtalkers,” starring Nicholas Cage.
While the Navajo Nation contributed immensely to the war effort, other Native American tribes also had their own code talkers who served in both world wars.
Code talkers were useful because their languages weren’t understood by enemy forces and the code talkers could transmit secret messages to and from the battlefield without being deciphered.
World War I code talkers included the Choctaw, Cherokee, Comanche, Osage, Lakota and Cheyenne Nations.
Army Pfc. Joseph Oklahombi, a Choctaw code talker, earned a Silver Star Medal, one of the highest awards for valor. On Oct. 8, 1918, at Saint-Etienne, France, his 36th Infantry Division unit came under attack.
Oklahombi and others in his company captured 171 Germans and killed about 79 more. He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre by France. It’s the French equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor.
During World War II, code talkers from the Comanche, Lakota, Muscogee, Mohawk, Meskwaki, Tlingit, Hopi, Cree, Crow and Choctaw Nations were among those who served in the European Theater with the Army, while Navajo code talkers served in the Pacific Theater with the Marine Corps.
Native Americans had to get creative with military terms that were not native to their language. For instance, the Navajo language didn’t have a word for submarine, so they used the term iron fish in World War II.
Also in World War II, the Navajo used their word for shark to denote a destroyer and they used buzzard for bomber.
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