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S. HRG. 108–693

CODE TALKERS

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

CONTRIBUTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN CODE TALKERS IN AMERICAN

MILITARY HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 22, 2004

WASHINGTON, DC

(
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Chairman

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Vice Chairman

JOHN McCAIN, Arizona,

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota

HARRY REID, Nevada

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington

PAUL MOOREHEAD, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

PATRICIA M. ZELL, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

(II)
(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Statements:

Brown, John S., Chief of Military History and Commander, U.S. Army

Center of Military History ............................................................................ 5

Campbell, Hon. Ben Nighthorse, U.S. Senator from Colorado, chairman,

Committee on Indian Affairs ....................................................................... 1

Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from Oklahoma .................................. 2

Johnson, Hon. Tim, U.S. Senator from South Dakota .................................. 9

Keahna, Samson, Vietnam veteran, Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi

in Iowa ........................................................................................................... 18

Kerchee, Melvin, secretary-treasurer, Comanche Nation ............................. 17

Loudner, Donald, National Commander, National American Indian Veterans Association .............................................................................................. 13

Mansfield, Gordon H., Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Department

of Veterans Affairs ........................................................................................ 3

Meadows, William C., professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Southwest Missouri State University .................................................. 19

Pushetonequa, Wayne, council member, Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa ............................................................................................. 18

Pyle, Gregory E. chief, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ................................... 15

Roberts, Robin, Meskwaki Tribal Member ..................................................... 12

Steele, John Yellow Bird, President, Oglala Sioux Tribal Council ............... 13

Wolf Guts, Clarence, Oglala Codetalkers ....................................................... 11

APPENDIX

Prepared statements:

Brown, John S. (with attachment) .................................................................. 25

Chibitty, Charles, Comanche Code Talker ..................................................... 27

Keahna, Samson ............................................................................................... 28

Kerchee, Melvin ................................................................................................ 28

Loudner, Donald ............................................................................................... 29

Mansfield, Gordon H. (with attachment) ........................................................ 31

Meadows, William C. (with attachment) ........................................................ 38

Pyle, Gregory E. (with attachment) ................................................................ 58

Roberts, Robin (with attachment) ................................................................... 59

Steele, John Yellow Bird .................................................................................. 89

Wolf Guts, Clarence .......................................................................................... 92

(1)

CODE TALKERS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in room 562,

Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senators Campbell, Inouye, Cantwell, Conrad, Dorgan,

Inhofe, Johnson, Murkowski, Thomas.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will now turn to its hearing,

which is the committee oversight hearing on the background, history and contributions of Native American code talkers in American military history.

Senator CONRAD. Mr. Chairman, might I just inquire, will this

be the last meeting of the committee before Congress adjourns?

The CHAIRMAN. No; we have several more.

Senator CONRAD. Good.

The CHAIRMAN. One will be an investigative hearing on September 29 and I am not sure what else is on the agenda. We will have

several more.

Senator CONRAD. All right.

STATEMENT OF HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, U.S.

SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON

INDIAN AFFAIRS

The CHAIRMAN. In the year 2000, Federal legislation was enacted

to award Congressional Gold Medals to the Navajo codetalkers for

their contribution to America’s victory over the Japanese Empire in

World War II. From the end of the war in 1945–68, the very existence of the Navajo codetalkers was a military secret. In the years

since, there have been books written about the Navajo codetalkers

and in 2001 a motion picture heralded their efforts.

However, many Americans do not know that members of nearly

16 other Indian tribes served as codetalkers in World War I and

World War II and have never been formally recognized for their

service to our country. These codetalkers include members of the

Comanche, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Osage, Lakota, and Dakota Sioux,

the Chippewa, the Oneida, the Sac and Fox, the Meskwaki, the

Hopi, Assiniboine, Kiowa, Pawnee, Menominee, the Creek and the

Seminole Tribes.

Displayed on the easels to the right and the left of the dais, there

are pictures from archives, including a picture of the Choctaw
2

codetalkers in World War I. They were the first codetalkers that

played a role in American military operations and transmitted vital

communications that helped defeat German forces in Europe in

World War I.

We also have a picture of a large group of Comanche codetalkers

who served in World War II, as well as photos of Meskwaki

codetalkers. The Meskwaki picture is a shot of a young Frank

Sanache, who until his death last month was among the last living

codetalkers of his tribe. We are fortunate to have one codetalker,

Clarence Wolf Guts, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, who will

be testifying today.

These Native American codetalkers played a key role in the success of our military activities. They have served their country honorably and contributed to the well-being and freedom of many people in the United States.

Senator Inouye could not be here today, but I would be glad to

yield to Senator Inhofe from Oklahoma, if you have comments.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, U.S. SENATOR FROM

OKLAHOMA

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to make some comments. We have been concerned

about this for a long time, that this gathering is long overdue. Most

of you know that people, including myself, have been working for

years to recognize these individuals. It was a great moment just a

few weeks ago when we had the World War II Monument unveiled.

It will be a great moment still when the codetalkers are specifically

recognized for contributing to the fight for the freedom of our country around the world, in both World War I and World War II.

The first reported use of Indian codetalkers was on October 17,

1918. At that time, most of the Indian people in the United States,

including members of the Choctaw Nation, which you did not mention in your opening statement, were not accorded the status of

citizens of the United States. Without regard to this lack of citizenship, many members of the Choctaw Nation joined many members

of other Indian tribes and nations and enlisted in the armed services to fight on behalf of the United States.

The members of the Choctaw Nation enlisted in the American

Expeditionary Force which began hostile actions in France in the

fall of 1917. One of my closest friends is Greg Pyle. He is the chief

of the Choctaws who is here as one of our witnesses today, Mr.

Chairman. We have been friends for a long time. We talked about

this and talked about the fact that we had a number of Choctaws,

and that caused me to introduce legislation to include not just the

Choctaws, but two other tribes, but primarily consideration of the

Choctaws.

Charles Chibitty, sometimes he comes. Is Charles Chibitty in the

room? I guess he is not. He is in very poor health. He was here

a couple of years ago. It was kind of funny. He used to talk about

how they would discourage Choctaws or Indians from using their

native language back in those days until they developed this

codetalking. I have a quote here by him. He said, when we got

caught talking Indian, we got punished. After the Army years
3

later, he told his cousin, they tried to make us quit talking Indian

in school, and now they want us to talk Indian.

Well, we are all glad they did not quit talking Indian, Greg. Anyway, I want to pay special tribute to him. I am sorry that his

health did not permit him to be here today. He is certainly one of

our heroes in Oklahoma and we will make sure that he gets a

proper recognition.

So while this hearing is not on my legislation, it is being taken

up in the Banking Committee and it requires 67 cosponsors, and

Greg, right now we only have 24. We have not really spent some

time trying to get this done, but we are going to do it.

I appreciate very much what you are doing here today, Mr.

Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. I tell my colleague, frankly, I do not know if I

am on that bill or not, but if I am not, if you would put me on as

a cosponsor, I’d be honored.

Senator INHOFE. Now I have 25.

The CHAIRMAN. Now you have 25. That is right. It is interesting

that American Indians have been in every war since the Revolutionary War defending this Nation, and yet before 1924 they could

not even vote for the Commander-in-Chief, for example, the President, who was the supreme commander of all military, because

they were not considered citizens yet, yet they were out there putting their lives on the line.

Senator INHOFE. That is true. We had an opportunity to honor

one Oklahoma Indian at Fort Sill not too long ago who was one of

the real heroes. He is the one who intentionally drove his tank out

into an opening and drew the German fire to save his unit. So we

have a lot of heroes, and we were able to get him posthumously

awarded a medal. This was probably about six or seven years ago.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, good.

If there are no further opening statements, we will go ahead and

proceed to panel 1. Gordon Mansfield is the Deputy Secretary of

Veterans Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Brigadier

General John Brown is Chief of Military History and Commander

of the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

Gentlemen, why don’t we go in that order. Mr. Mansfield, go

ahead first.

STATEMENT OF GORDON H. MANSFIELD, DEPUTY SECRETARY

OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Mr. MANSFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning.

I have a full statement for the record, if I could submit it for you.

The CHAIRMAN. It will be included in the record and you may abbreviate, if you would like.

Mr. MANSFIELD. I am pleased to be here to present the department’s views on the presentation of medals to Native American

codetalkers. The timing is really interesting. I had the opportunity

10 days ago on September 12 to be a part of the dedication of the

codetalkers monument on the Navajo Nation. They put up that

statue, which is really something, right on sacred ground, right at

Window Rock. I would offer a brochure from the dedication for the

record also.
4

The VA commends you for acknowledging the distinguished service in performing invaluable communications operations through

the use of unique languages that saved countless lives and hastened the end of both World War I and World War II. The Department of Veterans Affairs has long acknowledged the honorable

service of our American Indian veterans. They have served with

distinction in United States military actions, as you mentioned,

throughout our history. Their valor and courage is well documented. It is only right that we further honor that same valor and

courage with appropriate recognition.

Today, there are more than 220,000 American Indian veterans.

In an effort to better address the health care needs of these veterans, the Veterans Health Care Administration and the Indian

Health Service signed a memorandum of understanding in 2003

that seeks to combine the strengths and expertise of both of these

organizations to deliver quality health care services to American

Indian and Alaska Native veterans.

To accomplish these goals, the Indian Health Service and the

Veterans Health Administration are working to establish outpatient clinics and contract care partnerships at reservation facilities. We are also planning tele-health linkages that facilitate the

remote delivery of health care checkups and mental health and

counseling services by appropriate specialists.

The Veterans Benefits Administration outreach coordinators participate in a variety of outreach efforts to provide VA briefings on

reservations and to local American Indian groups. In 2002, the

VBA developed benefits training for tribal veterans’ representatives

to serve as a resource for information on benefits and services and

claims submissions. In the past two years, 35 tribal veterans’ representatives have received training on the claims process, VA benefits and services, and health care enrollment.

The VA also administers the Native American Veterans Direct

Loan Program for Indian veterans living on trust lands. This program assists American Indian veterans in financing the purchase

or improvement of homes on federal trust territories. So far, the

VA has made almost 400 loans to American Indian veterans, closing 120 loans in fiscal year 2003.

Recently, Secretary Principi strongly supported the enactment of

H.R. 2983, the Native American Veterans Cemetery Act of 2003, to

provide eligibility of Indian tribal organizations for grants to establish veterans cemeteries on trust lands in the same way that

grants for state veterans cemeteries are made. Currently, the National Cemetery Administration encourages participation of tribal

interests in efforts to establish state veterans cemeteries. NCA also

seeks to accommodate religious practices and American Indian veterans and their families are able to perform tribal rituals in VA’s

national cemeteries.

The VA will continue to explore all opportunities to increase eligible American Indian veteran participation in the benefits and

health care services that we provide.

Again, we acknowledge the honor and pride with which American Indians have served their country in the military, and especially salute the extraordinary contributions of the Native American codetalkers. We support the Senate’s efforts to acknowledge
5

their contributions through these legislative efforts. We stand

ready to serve them as they have so gallantly served their country.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my statement. I will be happy to

respond to any questions.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Mansfield appears in appendix.]

TheCHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Mansfield. I was just reminiscing

with Paul Moorehead, the head of our staff for Indian Affairs. I

think that was one of the first bills I introduced years ago on the

committee that authorized the VA to enter MOUs with tribes to be

able to provide money for houses on Indian reservations.

Before that time, they simply could not. An Indian vet would

come home and he could not get a loan from the bank to build on

tribal land.

We did an oversight hearing about 2 or 3 years after that bill

passed to find out how it was going. At that time, there were only

three Indians in the whole country that had taken advantage of

that program. I am glad to hear that at least 400 have now.

Mr. MANSFIELD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I think part of that was our fault, that we did

not network or get the word out very well through tribes, that Indian veterans could avail themselves of that program, but it sounds

like it is a good program and successful.

Mr.MANSFIELD. We are attempting to make it work even better,

sir.

TheCHAIRMAN. Great.

General Brown, thank you for being here. Why don’t you go

ahead and proceed? Your complete testimony will be included in

the record if you would like to abbreviate.

STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL [R] JOHN S. BROWN,

CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY AND DIRECTOR, ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

Mr. BROWN. Thank you, sir, for this opportunity to comment on

the contributions of Native American codetalkers in American military history. Native Americans have a long and proud tradition of

military service to their several Nations and to the United States

of America. Our Army archives are replete with tales of their valor

and Army museums feature equipment they have used and medals

they have won under trying circumstances.

Among their unique contributions has been their service as

codetalkers to secure command and control on the battlefield. By

the early years of the 20th century, command and control had become heavily dependent upon electrical communications. Vastly increased distances, dispersion and spans of control required the use

of what were then considered modern technologies such as sound

locators, buzzer phones and radios, with the land-line telephone

emerging as the preferred and most reliable means of communication for ground combat during World War I.

Unfortunately, land-lines could be tapped and our German adversaries too often listened in. The 36th Division, for example, reported having circulated the coordinates of a supply dump only to

find that location inundated by enemy fire within minutes. Other

divisions similarly reported facilities or operations compromised

and lives lost because of intercepted communications. Techniques
6

of encryption that did exist proved too cumbersome to accommodate

fluid battlefield tactics.

That same 36th Division had within its ranks a company of

American Indians who spoke a total of 26 Native languages. Only

four or five of those languages had been committed to writing.

Someone suggest placing an American Indian soldier in each key

tactical command post so that the division could rapidly communicate sensitive information in a language that the eavesdropping

Germans could not possibly understand. Choctaw was selected as

that language.

The experiment worked so well that a regimental commander attributed the success of a delicate nighttime tactical withdrawal and

again a major assault on the following day to the complete surprise

achieved by using Choctaw language to coordinate operations. The

idea caught on. By the end of World War I, Cherokee, Cheyenne,

Comanche, Osage, and Yankton soldiers were also serving as

codetalkers.

When World War II began, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps

drew upon the service of codetalkers in a more organized manner.

By then, the preferred method of communication was increasingly

wireless radio. However, radio signals were even more vulnerable

to interception than the telephone. In January 1941, the U.S. Army

recruited Comanche codetalkers to serve in its Fourth Infantry Division. A few months later, the Marines began recruiting Navajo

for the same purpose.

In the European theater, the Army’s Comanche codetalkers came

ashore on D-Day. On Utah Beach, a Comanche codetalker, Larry

Saupitty, sent Brigadier General Roosevelt’s critical message to reinforce an initial landing that had ended up 2,000 meters away

from its designated beaches. Saupitty’s message was classic in its

simplicity: ‘‘We made a good landing. We landed at the wrong

place.’’ The follow-on reinforcements came to the right place.

As Allied troops pushed out of the beachhead, codetalkers accompanied the leading regiments and provided communication

throughout the breakout across France. Scattered throughout the

division in two-man teams, codetalkers relayed vital messages that

utterly precluded enemy interceptions of them.

In the Pacific, the Navajo codetalkers took part in every major

Marine Corps operation and served in all six Marine divisions,

transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native

tongue. First used on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Navajo techniques halved the time used for encoding and decoding messages.

Their greatest test was in early 1945, when three Marine divisions

stormed Iwo Jima. In the first 2 days of fighting, six Navajo

codetalkers worked around the clock sending and receiving more

than 800 messages without a single error. One Marine Corps signal

officer noted, ‘‘Were it not for the Navajo, the Marines would never

have taken Iwo Jima.’’

I highly recommend William C. Meadows’ book, ‘‘The Comanche

Code Talkers of World War II,’’ as a discussion of the Army’s

codetalking contingent, and Doris A. Paul’s, The Navajo Code Talkers, as a discussion of the Marines’. I point out, too, that the Navajo were the subject of the recent movie, ‘‘Windtalkers.’’
7

Perhaps less familiar to the public, but equally deserving of our

praise, are the Assiniboin, Cherokee, Chippewa, Oneida, Choctaw,

Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee, Creek, Seminole, Pawnee,

Sac, Fox, Lakota, and Dakota, who also served in our armed forces

as codetalkers. It is impossible to calculate how many operations

were successful and how many lives were saved because of communications secured by the codetalkers. It may well be that contemporary encryption technology has carried us beyond the era in

which the services of the codetalkers proved most useful. However,

an underlying principle remains valid—that the diversity and richness of American culture renders it far more capable than it would

otherwise be of coping with the challenges of an uncertain world.

In addition, the unique and extraordinary record of Native American service in the armed forces of the United States continues unbroken as our accumulating record of current operations attests.

Thank you, sir.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Brown appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, General Brown. Let me ask a couple

of questions, then I will yield the floor to my colleagues here.

Senator INHOFE. My request, Mr. Chairman, is I wanted to be

here.

The CHAIRMAN. He is going to be on the third panel.

Senator INHOFE. Okay. As you know, I am chairing the Highway

Conference Committee and I have to get back to that. I was kind

of wanting to hear his statement, but thank you very much, Mr.

Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Secretary Mansfield, does the Department of

Veterans Administration support a formal recognition of the

codetalkers, the ones who we are talking about today?

Mr. MANSFIELD. Yes, sir; we do.

The CHAIRMAN. Obtaining documentation of American Indian

codetalker veterans is important, but I would imagine a very difficult process for their formal recognition. Does the VA keep certain

records in regards to the Indian codetalker veterans?

Mr. MANSFIELD. Sir, I do not think we would have any indicator

specifically that would indicate that a person was a codetalker, but

I would promise you that we would make every effort we can to assist in making those identifications.

TheCHAIRMAN. You would be able to do that probably with some

tribal input, too, I would think.

Mr.MANSFIELD. I think it would require some tribal input, plus

we would have to go back to the records and do some searches.

TheCHAIRMAN. All right.

General Brown, in the Center of Military History, is the Center

of Military History looking into the project to further identify

codetalker veterans?

Mr. BROWN. We are promulgating a Signal Corps history that

gives further attention to the codetalkers and to their contribution.

The CHAIRMAN. There is no written history about all of them

now, though, is there?

Mr. BROWN. There is no consistent history that treats all of them

equitably. Most of our histories speak to one of more of the tribes,

and then lists the other tribes that made contributions, but there
8

is no coherent history that speaks to all of them equivalently, no,

sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You mentioned at length the Choctaw

codetalkers and citizenship. World War I, the last 4 years between

1914 and 1919, they did not have citizenship, as you know. You

will have to tell me as a military history expert, was there a draft

in that time? How did the codetalkers get in? Were they all volunteers or did they just go out and ask them to volunteer?

Mr. BROWN. There was a draft, but in World War I——

The CHAIRMAN. If they were not citizens, how did they draft

them?

Mr. BROWN [continuing.] In World War I, the Indians who participated in the Army were volunteers.

The CHAIRMAN. As volunteers, to their credit.

Do you know the numbers? I was surprised to find out there

were 16 tribes. I knew there were more than just the Navajo and

the Comanche, but I did not know there were 16. Do you know the

number of particular codetalkers, because so much has been secret

for so many years.

Mr. BROWN. It is very difficult to reconstruct accurate figures because so many of the codetalkers served in informal rather than

formal programs. So codetalking that originated at the division

level and below would not have become a matter of record, and also

would not have gotten on to a personal record. So only the tribes

could tell you who of their soldiers served in that capacity.

I would say that from the readings that we have executed, virtually all of the American Indians who spoke both their native

tongue and English were used at one time or another in this capacity, and that would come to about at least 21,000 soldiers in the

U.S. Army alone.

The CHAIRMAN. 21,000, perhaps, you said?

Mr. BROWN. 21,000 in the Army, with perhaps 30,000 for the

armed forces as a whole. In addition to that, when you come to formal programs, specifically the programs that have entered the

record, you have contingents of 20 or more from about seven of the

tribes, and then the Navajo were recruited even more heavily and

they had 420 in their contingent. But the formal programs, in my

view, were the tip of the iceberg and the informal programs saw

a much larger participation.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. There is no question we need to give

recognition where recognition is deserved. You probably will not

have the answer to this, but just let me maybe get your opinion.

I was talking to staff about maybe some of the small things that

we can do just to start some recognition process. One of the things

I personally would like to do is have a plaque cast for each of those

16 tribes from which the codetalkers came that we could send for

some permanent display in their tribal council or at some location

of their choice on reservation. Do you think the Department of Defense would support that effort?

Mr. BROWN. I am a bit out of my lane, but I would say that the

Center of Military History certainly would support that.

The CHAIRMAN. I think we are going to introduce that at least,

and try to attach that to something on the way through in these

last few days. I will be talking to Senator Inouye about it, who is
9

a great war hero himself, as you know, and perhaps we can get at

least that little thing done in these last few days.

We will go to our second panel. Senator Johnson, did you have

any opening comments or statements?

STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, U.S. SENATOR FROM

SOUTH DAKOTA

Senator JOHNSON. Yes; I do, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you

and Vice Chairman Inouye for permitting the hearing to take place.

I would especially like to thank Senator Daschle for his ongoing

leadership and dedication to Indian issues and his request for this

hearing to take place. Senator Daschle is a blessing to our tribes

in South Dakota, and they truly have no better friend in Washington.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our South Dakota witnesses to the committee. We are happy to have Clarence Wolf Guts,

a former Lakota codetalker, here today. I also want to welcome

Don Loudner of the American Indian Veterans Association and

other tribal representatives, Robin Roberts, Samson Keahna, Melvin Kerchee, and Chairman Greg Pyle. Additionally, I want to welcome again Gordon Mansfield and Brigadier General John Brown

to this panel here today, as well as Dr. William Meadows, author

of a very valuable work for us, ‘‘The Comanche Code Talkers of

World War II.’’

As well from South Dakota with us today are Tom Short Bull,

who is president of the Oglala-Lakota College; President John

Steele of the Oglala Sioux Nation; Chairman Harold Frazier of the

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; as well as Treasurer Benita Clark

from Cheyenne River, and one of our veterans, Clifton Sky from

South Dakota.

I was just told by Chairman Frazier that a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe was wounded seriously yesterday in Iraq,

so our prayers go to the family of Garlene Tabia Fiota, as well as

other members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. It is one more

example of the kind of national service that native people have for

many generations provided the United States.

Two years ago, I introduced legislation that would award medals

to all Native American codetalkers. I am glad to see the continued

support for our effort to give all Native American codetalkers the

recognition they deserve. In December 2000, the Honoring the Navajo Codetalkers Act was signed into law, authorizing the President

to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress to each of the

original 29 Navajo codetalkers, as well as a silver medal to each

man who later qualified as a Navajo codetalker.

There is no doubt that the bravery and the courage of the Navajo

codetalkers helped to make the United States the free and proud

place it is today. While Navajos have received the most recognition,

it is important to remember that members of at least 17 other

tribes also served as codetalkers in World War I and World War

II. This bill will express the gratitude of Congress and the entire

Nation to these brave and innovative veterans for their contributions and sacrifices to the struggle for freedom and democracy.

The syntax and tonal qualities of languages as unique as their

people were so complex that no message transmitted by any
10

codetalker was ever decoded by the enemy. However, for the

codetalkers who returned home there were no parades or special

recognition, as they were sworn to secrecy, an oath they kept and

honored, but one that robbed them of the accolades and place in

history that they rightfully deserved.

When the secrecy surrounding the code was finally lifted, only

then could the country realize the importance of these brave soldiers. Military commanders credited the code with saving the lives

of countless American soldiers and with the successful engagements in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima,

and Okinawa.

The accomplishments of the codetalkers were even more heroic,

given the cultural context in which they were operating. Subjected

to alienation in their homeland and discouraged from speaking

their native languages, they still stepped forward and developed

the most significant and successful military code of their time. That

spirit of military service continues today. Native Americans make

up a higher percentage of servicemen and servicewomen in the

armed forces than any other ethnic group in America. They have

served with honor in all of America’s wars, beginning with the Revolutionary War and on through our current operations in Iraq.

Sadly, this past November Sheldon Hawk Eagle, a member of the

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and a descendant of

the great Lakota leader Crazy Horse, made the ultimate sacrifice

for both of his nations. He was among the 17 soldiers who lost their

lives when two Blackhawk helicopters crashed in Northern Iraq.

The sacrifices of PFC Hawk Eagle, the codetalkers and all Native

Americans to our armed services are just an example of the great

contributions Native Americans have made to strengthen our Nation.

As we recognize the heritage, strength and history and way of

life of the first Americans at this week’s opening of the National

Museum of the American Indian, it is time to give all Native American codetalkers the long-overdue recognition that they clearly deserve. In the twilight of their lives, it is only fitting that this Nation at least pays them this honor. It is essential that we acknowledge the service of these soldiers at perhaps our country’s most

desperate hour, and finally give them their rightful place in history.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

We have no further questions. General Brown, Mr. Mansfield,

thank you very much for appearing.

We will go on to our next panel. That will be Clarence Wolf Guts,

Oglala codetalker from Wanblee, SD. He will be accompanied by

Don Loudner, the National Commander of the National American

Indian Veterans Association from Mitchell, SD, and John Yellow

Bird Steele, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, and

Robin Roberts, Meskwaki tribal member of Montour, IA.

Chief Pyle, we have you on the third panel.

When Mr. Wolf Guts testifies, President Steele, if he would prefer to read in his own language, whatever is more comfortable for

him, if somebody could interpret for the record.

We will hear from Mr. Wolf Guts first.
11

STATEMENT OF CLARENCE WOLF GUTS, OGLALA

CODETALKER ACCOMPANIED BY: DONALD LOUDNER,

NATIONAL COMMANDER, NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN

VETERANS ASSOCIATION; AND JOHN YELLOW BIRD STEELE,

PRESIDENT, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL

Mr. WOLF GUTS. I am here today because my God helped me to

be with my people and the people of the United States of America,

because we love America so much that we do whatever we can to

protect her from aggressors of any kind. Nobody can ever take that

away from us. We love America.

I am a full-blood Indian, and we do whatever we can to protect

the United States because we love America. Nobody can ever take

that away from us. That is how come I will do whatever I can to

protect it. With my fellow comrades overseas, I was sitting there

in the foxhole with a radio, trying to give the orders that were

given to us to pass on to the chief-of-staff. You do whatever you can

to confuse the enemy. I know they were listening to us all the time.

They were smart people and they listened to us all the time.

We used our own code and we did whatever we could to protect

our country. I asked my buddy, he is dead and gone now, and I am

the only one that is alive from that era. I said, we love our country,

so we are going to do whatever we can to protect that.

You know, we are Indian, but we know you should do some

things that are really powerful. Sure, sure, because we want America to be free. If the darkness ever took over the world, we would

all be dead or we would all be slaves to them. We do not want that.

We do not want it.

We want our own government to take care of us, to be what we

are today. We are happy. When I see young children playing without any supervision, I realize why we were over there. I am proud

to be a Lakota Indian. That is what I am, a Lakota Indian. Some

of the tribe is named Sioux, but we are not Sioux. We are Lakota.

There are three dialects in South Dakota: Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota. When we were talking over the radio, we used all of them.

Whatever we said, we know what we are talking about. We did not

want the enemy to come over here to America, because we love

America.

That is about all I can say. I want to thank everybody. I hope

that the good Lord up above is looking down on us to this day, and

that he can give us the strength and the courage to say what we

can and to think that we love America and we want it to be free.

I thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Wolf Guts appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Wolf Guts. You are a proud man

from a proud people.

It has always interested me that the Lakota people who suffered

their last great tragedy at the hands of the U.S. military and the

Federal Government as late as 1891 at Wounded Knee, that many

of the codetalkers of your age, their grandfathers must have been

involved in those last free days of the Lakota people. And to be

able to rise above that to help defend a nation, it must have given

them some thought about what they should do, when they would

remember what their grandfathers had gone through, and their
12

grandmothers too. So we are very proud of you and very proud that

you are here, too.

We will now move on to Mr. Roberts. Go ahead. Your complete

testimony, if it is written, will be included in the record. Please

proceed.

STATEMENT OF ROBIN ROBERTS, MESKWAKI TRIBAL

MEMBER

Mr. ROBERTS. My name is Robin Roberts, Meskwaki Nation,

Tama, IA, honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1941, 27 Meskwaki joined the Iowa State Guard. Out of those

27, 8 became Meskwaki codetalkers: Frank Sanache, Willard

Sanache, Michael Wayne Obanisee, Judy Wayne Obanisee, Dewey

Roberts, Dewey Young Bear, Edward Benson, and Melvin Twin.

They did their training at Camp Dodge in Johnston, IA. From

there, they went to more intense training in Louisiana. From there,

they went to Northern Ireland briefly.

In the meantime, during World War II, Stalin had opened the

first front, and then he started telling America, we need a second

door. So with General Eisenhower and the 34th, in November 1942

they invaded Algeria. From there, they fought their way to Northern Africa and through the deserts. And then in 1942, they went

to Southern Italy, where they used naval gunfire, aero-gunfire,

ground artillery, troops. And they went from Salerno to Naples

fighting, in which the Meskwaki codetalkers were used quite a bit,

where they saved a lot of lives.

They themselves, they had to lead assaults carrying their

backpacks and radios. There were fighting in the rain. They were

braving the elements of the weather there. They fought in the

mountains of Naples, where the Germans were dug in very heavily.

There were a lot of casualties there. There, I believe in June 1944,

the Allies had taken Rome back.

So myself personally, I have been working on this for 15 months.

I agreed with a lot of people when they said there were 18 tribes

that were codetalkers, besides the Navajo. I believe as I have been

working on this, is that not only am I working on the Meskwaki’s

getting these congressional gold medals and national recognition,

but I am working on all tribes, because they all fought for this

country. They were not drafted. They volunteered because of patriotism. This was not only these people’s land. It was our land. These

are our people, and they knew that. This was our homeland. We

had our adopted homeland, too, the United States.

So we necessarily did not have to go fight, but these brave people, they did. A lot of them came back, when they did come back

they were scarred mentally and physically. Some never made it

back. Some of the people forgot this was somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, somebody’s husband, somebody’s father. I think it

is due time they are given their national recognition. In the U.S.

Government, the people of this country, the people of this world

should realize what these people have sacrificed not only for themselves, but for the people. So I would like to thank the panel for

giving me this time to speak here.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Roberts appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you for being here today.
13

President Steele and Mr. Roberts, you are accompanying Mr.

Wolf Guts. Did you have something you would like to include in the

record, too?

STATEMENT OF JOHN YELLOW BIRD STEELE, PRESIDENT,

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION

Mr. STEELE. Yes, Senator; my name is John Yellow Bird Steele.

I am the elected president of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

I am a Vietnam veteran. The U.S. Government took me to the Presidio of Monterey and taught me to read, speak, and write the Vietnamese language. So I am sort of a halfway codetalker myself.

I would like to thank General Brown, the historian for the VA.

For your information, we have a Lakota-Lower Brule Sioux Tribe,

married into the Oglala Sioux Tribe, but he was a codetalker also

and his name is not included on there, and that is Willie Iron Elk.

So I would like to have the committee to also include Willie Iron

Elk as a Lakota codetalker. He was in World War I and World War

II. So he is quite distinguished and we would like his name included.

I would like to thank you, especially Senator Daschle and Senator Tim Johnson, for cosponsoring this, and yourself Senator

Campbell, and really thank Senator Inhofe for introducing this. It

is a great honor. The Lakota and Dakota peoples, we honor our

warriors and our veterans. We thank you for honoring our warriors

and veterans.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Steele appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Mr. Loudner, do you have something you would like to say, too?

STATEMENT OF DONALD LOUDNER, NATIONAL COMMANDER,

NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION

Mr. LOUDNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue

that is very important to me. I am a Korean War veteran. On behalf of all American Indian codetalkers, I am honored to be here

today.

I yield my time to Clarence, but I just would like to make a couple of statements here. The American Indians have a long and

proud history of service in the military. Statistically, the American

Indians volunteer to serve their country at a higher percentage

during all wars or conflicts than any other ethnic group. The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that American Indians

have the highest rate of military service among all ethnic groups

in the Nation, and the Veterans Administration’s statistics also

show that the American Indian veteran is the least likely veteran

to apply for benefits he or she has earned.

In talking with Clarence, I accompanied him here yesterday on

the plane and he brought up some interesting things that I would

like to bring out that is not in my testimony that you have. We

need to replace all the headstones of our other codetalkers that

have passed on, with some type of an appropriate saying that they

were the elite codetalkers.

And award some type of a military medal. Clarence told me he

only got four ribbons for all he had done in the 6 years, 6 months
14

and 4 days that he served during World War II. He said he would

like to try and get some type of compensation if possible because

he told me in his language that he is poor and he would like to

try to get some type of compensation.

Thank you for inviting me.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Loudner appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Thank you, President Steele, for mentioning that when the

young warriors come home now, they are honored. It was not that

way, listening to Mr. Loudner. I am also a Korean-vintage combat

veteran from Korea. You look very young. You must take good care

of your health. You are not getting wrinkled like us old guys from

the Korean War.

Mr. LOUDNER. I am 73 years old, sir. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Let me maybe just say that I think it is really

a good trend that tribes are going back to the way of honoring the

young men who came home. Let me ask Mr. Wolf Guts, perhaps,

too. When you came home, Mr. Wolf Guts, was there any kind of

recognition or honoring with your own tribe? Did they know where

you were or where you went?

Mr. WOLF GUTS. I went into the service when I was 18 years and

5 months old. I volunteered. They considered me a volunteer, an

enlistment or a volunteer. Some of my buddies were wounded in

Hawaii.

The CHAIRMAN. When you came back, were you told not to talk

about where you had been or that you had been a codetalker?

Mr. WOLF GUTS. I was in high school. I was in school. That

changed the next year, in 1942, I joined the Army. When the doctors passed me number one, right on through.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Loudner, why don’t you ask him what I

asked?

Mr. LOUDNER. Did they honor you when you came home?

Mr. WOLF GUTS. They wanted to honor us for being Lakota

codetalkers, and my buddy said, I will buy the regalia and I will

dance. I want you to sing that song that you sang in Hawaii. Okay,

I will. And I did. And three of my buddies, two of my buddies and

I, there were three of us. We had our own [INAUDIBLE]. We sang

that song like in Hawaii. He danced, thank you, thank you. [INAUDIBLE] when he was in Hawaii. I heard that same song.

The CHAIRMAN. The Lakota warrior song?

Mr. WOLF GUTS. No; it was not a warrior song. It was a regular

Indian song, dancing song. I learned that from my elders. They

were singers and I sang with them. That is where I learned how

to sing. I did it. And when we came back, I did it. We did it. I remember all that. I remember.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, if you still remember it, I used to sing Indian. I will come to South Dakota and you can teach me that song

and we will sing it together, as old veterans.

Mr. WOLF GUTS. Yes; you know, we did not do it for ourselves.

We did it for our people and the people of the United States of

America. It was them, and for the people of the world, because if

the Japanese ever took over the world, we will be dead. We did not

want that. We gave all we had to do what we had to do.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.
15

Mr. Loudner.

Mr. LOUDNER. I would just like to relate one thing that Clarence

told me this morning when we were coming down here on the

Metro. He said that before he goes home tomorrow morning, he

would like to have someone take him down to the World War II

memorial to show him that, because he said he might never, ever

come back here.

So he said he would like to go down here. He said he would like

to see the President, but I said the President, according to the

news, is in Pennsylvania or someplace. But maybe we could take

him down to the memorial.

The CHAIRMAN. The Committee can take care of the first part of

the request. We will be happy to make the arrangements to take

him if you will talk to Paul after we adjourn. The president, I know

his schedule and I just have a hunch that might be a lot more difficult on short notice.

Mr. Roberts, let me ask you just one last question. As I understand your testimony, there were eight Meskwaki codetalkers?

Mr. ROBERTS. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. And the last one was Frank Sanache?

Mr.ROBERTS.Yes; Frank Sanache.

The CHAIRMAN. And he passed away just very recently. Did you

know him personally?

Mr. ROBERTS. No; I think Sam here, he probably knew him better than I did.

The CHAIRMAN. He is on the next panel. Maybe I will ask him

then. But any further information that you have on him, if you

could provide it to the committee, I would appreciate it.

Mr. ROBERTS. Okay. I have a packet here.

The CHAIRMAN. If you have an extra copy, leave that with the

committee if you would.

We will go ahead now and move to the last panel, which will be

Gregory Pyle, the chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Melvin

Kerchee, Secretary-Treasurer, Veteran, from the Comanche Nation

of Lawton, OK; and Samson Keahna from the Sac and Fox Tribe

of Mississippi and Iowa, from Tama, IA.

They will be accompanied by Wayne Pushetonequa, council member of the Sac and Fox; and Dr. William Meadows, Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Southwest Missouri

State University in Springfield.

We will start with Mr. Pyle. By the way, all of you, your complete written testimony will be included in the record. If you would

like to abbreviate, that will be fine.

Go ahead, Mr. Pyle. Thank you for being here.

STATEMENT OF GREGORY E. PYLE, CHIEF, CHOCTAW NATION

OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. PYLE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Senators

and friends. I will summarize our testimony, as a matter of time.

As you know, the Choctaw Nation, of course, is out of Southeast

Oklahoma. We are the third largest tribe in the Nation, and yet

kind of a quiet tribe down in our area. What we have before us

today is what has been talked about. I really appreciate the military coming in and explaining the situation. It is the first time we
16

have had knowledge that they were doing this much work in the

history area, so we appreciate them.

Really, what happened is in 1914, as the war started out, the Allies had for 3 years lost hundreds of thousands of men. In 1917,

the United States entered the war and in 1918, they had still only

moved less than 50 miles in those 4 years.

Someone heard the Native Americans speaking in their native

language, which he could not understand. And if he could not understand it, he thought maybe the Germans wouldn’t either. So

they experimented by trying just two or three immediately. They

did not have language in the Choctaw for artillery, so they would

say big gunfire. And so they started out, and in a matter of a couple of days they realized this was really something because it was

at the time not in written form.

So they recruited all 18, putting them out there. Certainly, these

18 when they came back from World War I, were asked to keep

this secret, which they did keep the secret, very, very effective. As

you know, numerous tribes, I think some said 16 different tribes

in World War II, participated in this, because they did keep the secret. But they also did not get the credit that we think they deserve.

So we appreciate your having this hearing for us today. So with

that, it was kind of the ace in the hole, where you have native people volunteering at a higher rate than any other ethnic people;

many, many not citizens, and only after World War I were they

considered citizens. So they have always fought very valiantly for

their home territory.

I will conclude with that. We really appreciate you, by the way,

signing on as the 25th cosponsor today. I ask that other Senators

would consider signing onto this. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. My staff tells me I was already on it.

Mr. PYLE. Okay, well, we appreciate that very much and I am

open for any questions. Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Pyle appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Yes; it was interesting to me, some of the words that they used,

because they had no language for artillery, submarines, tanks,

things like that. I understand the Navajos, in fact, I do not know

if it was submarines or tanks, they referred to them as turtles. I

can imagine the confusion by Germans trying to listen in. There

were a number of turtles moving southeast, or something. It was

great.

We will go now to Melvin Kerchee, please.

Mr. KERCHEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, we

have a prepared statement.

The CHAIRMAN. That will be included in the record. How is Wally

Coffee? Is he doing fine down there?

Mr. KERCHEE. Yes; he is.

The CHAIRMAN. Tell him hello for me.

Mr. KERCHEE. I have a prepared statement on behalf of Mr.

Charles Chibitty, our last living Comanche codetalker.

The CHAIRMAN. He is still alive?

Mr. KERCHEE. Yes; he is, but his health is in a situation that he

could not travel.
17

The CHAIRMAN. I understand. His letter will be included in the

record.

Mr. KERCHEE. For the record, the Choctaws are not quiet in

Oklahoma.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, no intertribal problems here. [Laughter.]

Mr. KERCHEE. But very wonderful.

To the left, Mr. Chairman, you will see the Comanche

codetalkers on the panel.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; I looked at that picture.

Mr. KERCHEE. I will read my statement.

STATEMENT OF MELVIN KERCHEE, SECRETARY-TREASURER,

COMANCHE NATION

I am Melvin Kerchee, Secretary-Treasurer of the Comanche Nation. I have the honor this morning as the official representative

of the government of the Comanche Nation to speak on behalf of

Charles Chibitty, the last Comanche codetalker.

It is a title he carries with deep pride and a certain degree of

sadness. The pride he feels arises from the opportunity to serve his

country, the United States of America, up the slopes of Utah Beach

at Normandy and across the battlefields of Europe during World

War II. It is the pride he feels because he and 13 other Comanche

warriors were able to use their own Comanche language to devise

an unbreakable code.

It is a pride that all Indians feel because of the numbers of

American Indians who enlisted in the military. The Saturday

Evening Post editorial board suggested in 1941 that the draft

would not be needed if other young men volunteered like the American Indian men. Historians say that the Indians enlisted in greater proportions to their numbers than all other people in the United

States.

The sadness he feels arises from the fact that recognition of the

extraordinary service of the codetalkers and the work of the

codetalkers in arms comes in the twilight of his years, and that his

fellow codetalkers are not here to share his recognition. Gone are

Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Forrest Kassanavoid, Willington

Mihecoby, Perry Noyebad, Clifford Otitivo, Simmons Parker, Melvin Permansu, Dick Red Elk, Elgin Red Elk, Larry Saupitty, Morris Sunrise, and Willie Yackeschi.

The story of the codetalkers are considered classified information, and it was not released until 1968. The story has leaked into

history and out of our awareness, like a dripping faucet, drop by

drop.

The Navajo codetalkers are, of course, the most prominent in the

public at large, but there has been little recognition in the United

States of other tribes’ military service as codetalkers. For the Comanche, it was initially the French Government who recognized

their contribution when in 1989 it awarded the Choctaw and the

Comanche chiefs the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit in

recognition of the codetalkers’ duties for their respective service in

World War I and World War II. At that time, Forrest Kassanavoid

and Roderick Red Elk were still with us.

In 1995, Mr. Chibitty received the Knowlton Award created by

the Military Intelligence Corps Association to recognize significant
18

contributions to military intelligence efforts. The award is named

in honor of Revolutionary War Army Lieutenant Colonel Charles

Knowlton.

Finally on November 30, 1999, Mr. Chibitty, then 78, was honored in Washington, DC at the Department of Defense as the last

surviving World War II Army Comanche codetalker, during a ceremony in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes. Sadly, however, there has

never been formal recognition of the Comanche codetalkers by the

U.S. Government.

Two bills introduced in Congress, S. 540 and H.R. 1093, as the

Code Talkers Recognition Act, focus on the contributions of American Indian soldiers during the Second World War. These bills and

similar legislation, as well as this hearing, help focus attention on

the critical strategic service provided by the codetalkers that is

long overdue. I would urge Congress to act quickly so that these

American Indian heroes, these United States soldiers can be honored properly.

I thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Kerchee appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Mr. Keahna.

Mr. KEAHNA. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

Before I begin my statement, I would like to thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to travel to Washington. I heard

your remarks on the museum yesterday, last night on the radio as

I was getting ready to go to sleep. Indeed, that was very moving.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. I hope it was not the remarks that

put you to sleep.

Mr. KEAHNA. You got me. [Laughter.]

STATEMENT OF SAMSON KEAHNA, VIETNAM VETERAN, SAC

AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA ACCOMPANIED BY WAYNE PUSHETONEQUA, COUNCIL MEMBER,

SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA

My name is Samson Keahna. I am also a Vietnam veteran. I

served there in 1966 and 1967. I have had a great opportunity to

sit down with our last surviving codetalker, Mr. Sanache. That is

that gentleman there in the picture on the right side over there,

in front of the dais.

When we did share some stories, he could be very comical when

we were sitting there. He told a couple of stories about being in Tunisia at the time. I told him I had only made one trip to Italy in

1990. He said, well, there was no war going on there, and kind of

grinned at me. But he could be a funny man when he wanted to

be, but he really did not talk very much about his war experiences,

as you know from other veterans. He had that post-traumatic

stress and it really affects us.

But on to my statement. On behalf of the Meskwaki Nation,

thank you for the opportunity to appear today. It is an honor for

me to speak in support of the Meskwaki codetalkers and those from

other tribes who gave generously of their time and risked their

lives on behalf of this country. The story of the codetalkers and the

important role they played in our military is well documented, so

I will be brief in my remarks.
19

Until 1968, information related to the codetalkers’ activities during both World War I and World War II remained classified by the

Department of Defense. Bound by their honor and obligation, the

codetalkers said nothing about the essential role they played on behalf of our country. Instead, they lived humbly among us as

friends, brothers, uncles, fathers and grandfathers.

In 2000, Congress passed legislation to award gold medals to 29

members of the Navajo Tribe who served as codetalkers. This

measure was an excellent first step in recognizing men who served

their country bravely. But it was only one step, and more work remains to be done to ensure that we honor all of those worthy individuals. We must provide codetalkers from the remaining 18 tribes

the same recognition the Navajo Nation deserved.

We must pass the Code Talkers Recognition Act now. The

codetalkers deserve to be awarded for their bravery and for aiding

their comrades to help gain in the victory over their adversaries,

with countless forays against heavy odds. With their ingenuity,

these brave warriors enabled our military and that of our allies to

secure our Nation’s freedom and security.

In turn, our tribe has used those freedoms to cultivate our culture, our history, and above all, our unique Meskwaki language. As

such, we continue to contribute to the rich diversity that befits our

great Nation.

Time is of the essence. Already, we have lost too many of these

great warriors. Each of the men who served as a codetalker deserves to know that the nation they served honors their sacrifices.

For those whom we have lost, we must demonstrate to their families that they have not been forgotten.

I would hope that your committee will grant these brave warriors

the commendations that they have deserved for more than 60

years. Sir, may the Great Spirit be with you in your decision.

Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Keahna appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Dr. Meadows? Your complete written testimony will also be in

the record if you would like to abbreviate.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM C. MEADOWS, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY, SOUTHWEST

MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

Mr.MEADOWS. Thank you.

I would like to thank Senator Tom Daschle, Chairman Ben

Nighthorse Campbell, our university president, John Keiser at

Southwest Missouri State University, for helping me to come and

testify today. I would like to also mention the late Forrest

Kassanavoid, who had it not been for him, one of the Comanche

codetalkers who was responsible for my research product that led

into this work that I am going to talk about.

I am the author of the Comanche Code Talkers of World War II.

My scope initially was to start out and focus on the Comanches,

but I soon traced it back, as many of these other gentleman have

explained, to the Choctaws in World War I. So my work turned

also into researching and identifying not only as many tribes and

as many units as I could that used the American codetalkers, but
20

also trying to identify individuals in those units. So my work was

around that.

I was asked to talk a little bit about the sources that I used. My

sources are extremely wide. For the Choctaw material, I worked extensively with Judy Allen through correspondence. Judy is the editor of the Choctaw tribal newspaper, Bishinik. She had been involved in researching the Choctaw codetalkers well before I became

involved in this research, to award them by the French government

and the State of Oklahoma in 1989. So with her, I worked a lot on

the Choctaw information.

The Comanche data I have were from the three surviving Comanche codetalkers who saw combat, and also another individual

who went through the training program, but who was discharged

prior to going overseas, as well as their actual training officer, who

is now retired, Major General Hugh F. Foster.

Other material as far as other groups came from various news

reports, tribal newspapers, et cetera, of individuals who were helping me to identify both units and groups. Of the 18 groups, for example in World War II, I have been able to come up with some

type of, if you want to say provenance for 12 of the 15 groups in

terms of what division, for some individuals even their company,

regiment, battalion, so forth and so on.

In World War I, we have only been able to pin down actually one

of the six groups that was used, but two others we have good suspicions that they were probably in the same division, the 36th Infantry Division from Oklahoma.

One thing I would like to point out from my research, is what

I found from looking at the documentation and working with actual

codetalkers, is that it is important to realize there are actually two

distinct types of Native American codetalking. The initial formation

of it was kind of a de facto accident, per se. Captain Horner overheard a number of Choctaws speaking around a camp and realized

they had a common language that the Germans did not know. In

time, they formed some actual code words and formed, if you will,

a body of coded words to use.

This continued in World War II with, for example, the Comanches were actively recruited in December 1940. The Meskwaki from

Iowa were also actively recruited prior to World War II beginning,

as were the Chippewa and Oneida from Michigan. The Navajo, of

course, were recruited later, in 1942.

The other groups that I have been able to locate to the best of

my knowledge at this time were formed not specifically prior to the

war, but simply after a group realized they had a number of similar tribal members speaking a common language in a military unit.

So they were used or put together on kind of a de facto basis. The

term I heard commonly used was use them if you have them, basically is what the word in the military was.

So there are really two types of code. What I designate as type

one, in other words, formally developed or specially coded vocabularies that are used within native languages. So it is a type of a

double code. You have a foreign language, and then you have a

code within the foreign language. Then type two, which many other

groups was, was just the informal use of everyday language. To
21

what degree some coded words may have been added into that is

really hard to determine at this time, but quite possible.

In terms of their circumstances in service, one of the things I

would like to point out is that we know exactly that there were 420

Navajo codetalkers. We know that there were 17 Comanches; that

there were 19 Sac and Fox, of which eight served as codetalkers,

et cetera. Just on a rough estimate, I have estimated that probably

around 600, and this is only an estimate at this time. There could

easily be more, but probably around 600 Native Americans served

as actual Native American codetalkers in World War II.

To me, one of the things that I stress in my research is to look

at the willingness, the high percentage of voluntary enlistment,

and to look at their willingness, because most of these men were

actually young to middle to late-teenagers. They came straight out

of Indian boarding schools or straight out of high schools in which

they were actively inhibited and discouraged from speaking their

traditional languages, and their willingness to hang onto that language, and then to turn around and use it for a system to help defend both their tribes and the United States is very gracious and

everything.

The thing about their languages is that in military coding at this

time it sometimes could take up to an hour and in some cases

hours to send a message, in which the message had to encoded, put

into a coded machine or something, transmitted, and then uncoded

or decoded. This could take several hours. With groups like the Comanches, like the Choctaws, like the Navajos, et cetera, it was simply two gentlemen speaking on a phone. They could turn around

and immediately translate it back in here. So you had a matter of

seconds, as opposed to a matter of minutes or potential hours. So

the speed and the accuracy was the key advantage here.

In my opinion, the contribution of the codetalkers in World War

I and World War II should not be judged on their numbers, but by

the unique historical circumstances of their bilingual and bi-cultural background and their willingness to use this in defense of

their own people and the United States. We have some evidence

that these were very effective.

For example, a few days after D-Day when the Comanches landed on Utah Beach, a group of the 4th Division on a probing mission

found themselves surrounded by superior German force. They retreated back into a wooded area and basically remained undetected, but realized they were completely surrounded by a larger

force. They knew the minute they sent a message, it would be

picked up and their location would be given away.

So they needed that message to not be in English. They asked

if any of the codetalkers were with them, and luckily Larry

Saupitty was in that group. He was brought forward. He sent a

message explaining their dire circumstances to which they were reinforced, and the entire group was saved from what would have

been quickly being overrun.

I am sorry. Elgin Red Elk is the gentleman who did that. Larry

Saupitty was the orderly and communications operator for Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. He is the gentleman who

landed in the first wave at D-Day with Roosevelt and reported the

message in Comanche, basically ‘‘safe landing, wrong beach, what
22

now?’’ So several of these gentleman were used in very active situations.

In terms of recognition, the Comanches were honored by their individual families when they came home. Forrest Kassanavoid, for

example, the minute he stepped off the train, his dad asked him

if he brought anything back. He produced a Nazi flag. His aunt

proceeded to lay it on the concrete sidewalk and they placed him

on it, and have him dance a victory dance on the spot. These were

common events in Oklahoma in 1946.

The tribe did honor them in 1946 at a large pow-wow at Walters

that eventually became what is now known as the Comanche

Homecoming. From there, the recognition is virtually invisible until

1989, when again, the Oklahoma State government and the Government of France recognized them in a small ceremony at the

Oklahoma State Capitol.

From this standpoint, we begin to look at also some of the contributions. There are some really distinguished service from these

individuals who are codetalkers. In World War I, Solomon Lewis

won the Coeur d’Guerre from France and was awarded the silver

star by General Pershing himself. Schlicht Billy, a Choctaw from

Oklahoma in World War II is reported to have been the first American to break through the Siegfried Line. He captured a machine

gun nest and was seriously wounded in doing this, but his penetration of this line allowed Major Jack Treadwell and other members

of his unit, Choctaw members to penetrate and actually open up

part of the Siegfried Line.

In World War II, Willie Yacheschi, Robert Holder, Larry

Saupitty, Forrest Kassanavoid, and Perry Noyabad, all Comanches,

were all wounded in action and several of them received bronze

stars. So we have a true record of quite a bit of service here.

I strongly urge the committee to seek further research on this

subject and to please pass any legislation that we could to bring

these men contributions and honors. Some possibilities might include similar types of medals or certificates, as were given the Navajo; some sort of a plaque that could be put at the respective tribal

offices for the tribal members; and also perhaps the consideration

of a small monument or plaque or something here in the Nation’s

Capital to recognize and commemorate their service.

Thank you very much for allowing me to testify.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Meadows appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. We are going to proceed on all fronts, you might

say, as well as we can. Getting a plaque or a monument at the capitol takes years. In fact, I was involved in that as a member of Veterans Affairs when we wanted to upgrade the wall, for those of you

who are of Vietnam vintage, because there were many American

soldiers that died after they came back, but as a result of combat,

from Agent Orange or things of that nature, all kinds of reasons.

Their names were not included on the wall. So we had to get a special plaque put up right near the wall, as you probably know.

I think we worked on it for 4 years. It took a long time to do it.

There is a group that really controls what goes on the Mall. It is

an appointed group here in Washington. They historically have opposed everything that goes on the Mall. I think they would still like
23

to have it a swamp, rather than monuments to our great war heroes.

So it is not easy to do. In fact, the World War II memorial, as

you know, they opposed that, if you remember. We had to pass a

special bill through the House and the Senate, and President Bush

signed it, where we overruled that whole commission and said we

were going to do it anyway. They were not thrilled with us.

So that part might be difficult, but certainly the other things you

have suggested to the committee, I know we will be very supportive

of that.

I do appreciate all of you being here today. Any further comments that you or anyone in the audience would have on this issue,

we will keep the record open for 2 weeks. As you know, we adjourn

in just a few short weeks, so we are going to try and proceed as

well as we can before that time. So if you have additional comments, get them in as soon as you can.

With that, thank you, and this committee is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m. the committee was adjourned, to reconvene at the call of the chair.]

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APPENDIX

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL [RET.] JOHN S. BROWN CHIEF OF

MILITARY HISTORY, U.S. ARMY

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the contributions of Native American code talkers in American military history. Native Americans have a long and

proud tradition of military service to their several nations and to the United States

of America. Our Army archives are replete with tales of their valor, and Army museums feature equipment they have used and medals they have won under trying

circumstances. Among their unique contributions has been their service as code

talkers to secure command and control on the battlefield.

By the early years of the 20th century, command and control had become heavily

dependent upon electrical communications. Vastly increased distances, dispersion,

and spans of control required the use of what were then considered modern technologies, such as sound locators, buzzer-phones, and radios, with the land-line telephone emerging as the preferred and most reliable means of communication for

ground combat during World War I. Unfortunately, land-lines could be tapped, and

our German adversaries too often listened in. The 36th Division, for example, reported having circulated the coordinates of a supply dump, only to find that location

inundated by enemy artillery fire within minutes. Other divisions similarly reported

facilities or operations compromised and lives lost because of intercepted communications. Techniques of encryption that did exist proved too cumbersome to accommodate fluid tactics.

That same 36th Division had within its ranks a company of American Indians

who spoke a total of 26 native languages. Only four or five of those languages had

been captured in writing. Someone suggested placing an American Indian soldier in

each key tactical command post so that the division could rapidly communicat6 sensitive information in a language that the eavesdropping Germans could not possibly

understand. Choctaw was selected as that language. The experiment worked so well

that a regimental commander attributed the success of a delicate, nighttime tactical

withdrawal—and again a major assault the following day—to the complete surprise

achieved by using the Choctaw language to coordinate operations. The idea caught

on. By the end of World War I, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Osage, and

Yankton soldiers were also serving as code talkers.

When World War II began, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps drew upon the service of code talkers in a more organized manner. By then the preferred method of

communication was increasingly the wireless radio; however, radio signals were

even more vulnerable to interception than the telephone. In January 1941, the U.S.

Army recruited Comanche code talkers to serve in its 4th Infantry Division, and a

few months later the Marines began recruiting Navajo for the same purpose.

In the European theater, the Army’s Comanche codetalkers came ashore on DDay. On Utah Beach, a Comanche codetalker [Larry Saupitty] sent Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr’s critical message to reinforce an initial landing that ended up

2,000 yards away from its designated beaches. Saupitty’s message was classic in its

simplicity: ‘‘We made good landing. We landed at the wrong place.’’ As the Allied
26

troops pushed out of the beachhead, codetalkers accompanied the leading regiments

and provided communications throughout the breakout across France. Scattered

throughout the division in two-man teams, codetalkers relayed vital messages that

utterly precluded the enemy interceptions of them.

In the Pacific, the Navajo codetalkers took part in every major Marine Corps operation and served in all six Marine divisions, transmitting messages by telephone

and radio in their native tongue. First used on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Navajo techniques reduced the time used for encoding and decoding messages by onehalf. Their greatest test was in early 1945, when three Marine divisions stormed

Iwo Jima. In the first 2 days of fighting, 6 Navajo codetalkers worked around the

clock, sending and receiving more than 800 messages without a single error. One

Marine signal officer noted, ‘‘Were it not for the Navajo, the Marines would never

have taken Iwo Jima.’’ I highly recommend William C. Meadows’ book, ‘‘The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II’’ as a discussion of the Army’s codetalking contingent, and Doris A. Paul’s, ‘‘The Navajo Code Talkers’’ as a discussion of the Marine’s. I point out, too, that the Navajo were the subject of the recent movie

‘‘Windtalkers.’’ Perhaps less familiar to the public, but equally deserving of our

praise, are the Assiniboin, Cherokee, Chippewa, Oneida, Choctaw, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee, Creek, Seminole, Pawnee, Sac, Fox, Lakota, and Dakota, who

also served in our armed forces as code talkers. It is impossible to calculate how

many operations were successful and how many lives were saved because of communications secured by the code talkers.

It may well be that contemporary encryption technology has carried us beyond the

era in which the services of the code talkers proved most useful. However, an underlying principle remains valid: That the diversity and richness of American culture

renders it far more capable than it would otherwise be of coping with the challenges

of an uncertain world. Also, the unique and extraordinary record of Native American service in the Armed Forces of the United States continues unbroken, as our

accumulating record of current operations attests.

Thank you.

[Responses to questions follows:]

Question 1: Is the Center for Military History looking into a project to further

identify and develop the history of the American Indian codetalkers in the Army?

If not, would this be a possibility?

Answer: The Center of Military History is compiling a data base identifying the

codetalkers and detailing their contributions. We are exploring ways to contact the

various tribes to enlist their assistance in identifying those members who served as

codetalkers, both formally and informally. The information gathered will be used in

the next revision of our volume, Getting the Message Through: A Branch History of

the U.S. Army Signal Corps, to expand its discussion of the use of Native American

codetalkers in both World Wars I and II. This information will also be made available to other historians and historical researchers.

Question: 2 From my understanding, the Army Signal Corps was the branch that

had an American Indian Codetalkers program. What were the duties of the Army

Signal Corps? Do you know of any of the other encryption technologies that were

being utilized during World War I and World War II?

Answer: Since its original organization in 1860, the Signal Corps has been the

Army’s communications branch. In short, its mission is to get the message through.

With the introduction of longer range weapons during the 19th century, a commander could no longer control his troops by voice alone. From simple signaling

techniques using flags and torches, the Corps’ responsibilities have grown to encompass message transmission by telegraph, telephone, radio, computers, and satellites.

During the 20th century, the introduction of radio and other broadcast media greatly increased the need for communications security. Elaborate codes and ciphers were

developed to prevent the enemy from listening in. The Signal Intelligence Service,

established in 1929 to control Army cryptology, ultimately became today’s National

Security Agency. During World War II the Army employed a number of sophisticated encryption methods and machines. The SIGSALY, for instance, masked encoded messages behind a fog of white noise. The Germans used Enigma. In field situations where technical means of security were not available or appropriate, Native

American codetalkers were sometimes used, and proved very effective.

Question 3: Do you know the numbers of American Indians who served in World

War I and World War II? Do you know how many served as codetalkers?

Answer: Approximately 12,000 Native Americans served in the armed forces during World War I. For World War II, the number climbed to over 44,000. Dr. William

C. Meadows, the author of The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II conducted

exhaustive research to identify Native Americans who served both formally and informally as codetalkers. He successfully identified the 15 Choctaws who served as
27

codetalkers in the 36th Division during World War I. Due to the lack of documentation, he could not determine how many members of other tribes may also have performed such duties, either formally or informally. Seventeen Comanches participated in the Signal Corps’ formal code talking program in the 4th Infantry Division

during World War II, and 420 Navajo served with the Marine Corps in the Pacific.

According to Meadows, however, there were many more American Indians who used

their native languages informally as codetalkers. Dr. Meadows concluded that members of at least 16 tribes acted as codetalkers in some capacity. As I stated in my

testimony on September 22, the total number of formal and informal codetalkers

within the Army could have been as high as 21,000, assuming that all bilingual

American Indians used both their native language and English to facilitate communications at one time or another. For the armed forces as a whole, the number could

have been as high as 30,000.

Question 4: What do you think is a proper and appropriate recognition for these

codetalkers? Do you know whether the Department of Defense supports a formal

recognition for these Codetalkers?

Answer: The Center of Military History, as an agent of DOD, has been empowered

to collect data regarding the codetalkers and to support their recognition. A useful

precedent has been set by the Navy with the recognition of the Navajo codetalkers.

The original 29 codetalkers received Congressional gold medals; those who later

qualified as codetalkers received silver medals. The Center believes that similar recognition for codetalkers from other tribes would be both proper and appropriate to

honor their unique and extraordinary service. Unfortunately, there are no surviving

Choctaw codetalkers and only one of the original 17 Comanche codetalkers, Charles

Chibitty, is still living.

Unfortunately, there was no military skill identifier for codetalkers. Therefore, I

would recommend that recognition be limited to those individuals whose language

skills can be reasonably documented or authenticated as having been used to ensure

communications security in tactical situations. For those tribes that contributed

codetalkers, Congress could present and furnish a plaque for display in tribal areas.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHARLES CHIBITTY, COMANCHE CODE TALKER

I am the last surviving Comanche Code Talker.

The Comanche Code Talkers were an elite group of young men who were fluent

in the Comanche language and we used that knowledge, along with our U.S. Army

Signal Corps training, to send critical messages that confused the enemy during

World War II; 20 of us were originally recruited, 17 of us were trained in communications, and 14 were deployed to the European theater. We were assigned to the

4th Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and began our training in January

1941. Lieutenant Hugh Frost took charge of our Comanche unit.

Our unit landed on the Normandy shores on the first or second day after D-Day.

After we hit Utah Beach, our first radio message was sent to another Code Talker

on an incoming boat. Translated into English, it said: ‘‘Five miles to the right of

the designated area and 5 miles inland, the fighting is fierce and we need help.’’

We were trying to let them know where we were so they would not lob any shells

on us. I was with the 22d Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. We talked

Comanche and sent messages when need be. It was quicker to use telephones and

radios to send messages because Morse code had to be decoded and the Germans

could decode them. We used telephones and radios to talk Comanche then wrote it

in English and gave it to the commanding officer.

Two Comanches were assigned to each of the 4th Infantry Division’s three regiments. We sent coded messages from the front line to division headquarters, where

other Comanches decoded the messages.

An example of a message we sent to other units is this: ‘‘A turtle is coming down

the hedgerow. Get that stovepipe and shoot him.’’ A turtle was a tank and a stovepipe was a bazooka. We couldn’t say tank or bazooka in Comanche, so we had to

substitute something else. A turtle has a hard shell, so it was a tank.

There was no Comanche word for machine gun so we used ‘‘sewing machine,’’ because of the noise the sewing machine made when my mother was sewing. Hitler

was ‘‘posah-tai-vo,’’ or ‘‘crazy white man.’’

There are no words in Comanche to say bomber aircraft. When daddy and I went

fishing when I was a boy and we cut a catfish open, sometimes it would be full of

eggs. Well, that bomber aircraft was just like the catfish full of eggs, too, so we

called it a pregnant airplane.

We got so we could send any message, word for word, letter for letter. The Navajos did the same thing in the Pacific during World War II and the Choctaw used
28

their language during World War I. There were other code talkers from other tribes,

but if they didn’t train like the Comanche and Navajos, how could they send a message like we did? If they made a slight mistake, instead of saving lives, it could have

cost a lot of lives.

I felt I was doing something that the military wanted us to do and we did to the

best of our ability, not only to save lives, but to confuse the enemy by talking in

the Comanche language. We felt we were doing something that could help win the

war. When I attended Indian school in the 1920’s, teachers got angry when we spoke

Comanche. When we talked Comanche, we got punished. I told my cousin that they

were trying to make little white boys out of us. After joining the Army it was the

other way around. In school they tried to make us quit talking Comanche, and in

the Army they wanted us to talk Comanche.

When I talk about my Comanche comrades, I always wonder why it took so long

for recognition of our service. They are not here to enjoy what I am getting after

all these years. Yes, it’s been a long, long time.

The only thing I regret is my fellow codetalkers are not here. But I have a feeling

those boys are here somewhere listening and looking down.

My last fellow codetalker died in September 1998. All those other boys up there

were welcoming him home. They were hugging and kissing him and, while they

were doing that, they said, ‘Wait a minute, we’ve still got one more down there.

When Charles gets up here, we’re going to welcome him just like we’re welcoming

you.’

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SAMSON KEAHNA, SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI

IN IOWA

Mr. Chairman:

On behalf of the Meskwaki Nation, thank you for the opportunity to appear today.

It is an honor for me to speak in support of the Meskwaki Code Talkers and those

from other tribes, who gave generously of their time and risked their lives on behalf

of this country. The story of the Code Talkers and the important role they played

in our military is well documented so I will be brief in my remarks.

Until 1968, information related to the Code Talkers activities during both World

War I and World War II remained classified by the Department of Defense. Bound

by their honor and obligation, the Code Talkers said nothing about the essential role

they played on behalf of our country. Instead, they lived humbly among us as

friends, brothers, uncles, fathers, and grandfathers.

In 2000, Congress passed legislation to award gold medals to 29 members of the

Navajo Tribe who served as Code Talkers. This measure was an excellent first step

in recognizing men who served their country bravely. But it was only one step and

more work remains to be done to ensure that we honor all of these worthy individuals. We must provide Code Talkers from the remaining 18 tribes the same recognition the Navajo deserved. We must pass The Code Talkers Recognition Act now.

The Code Talkers deserve to be awarded for their bravery, and for aiding their

comrades to help gain in the victory over their adversaries, with countless forays

against heavy odds. With their ingenuity, these Brave Warriors enabled our military

and that of our allies to secure our Nation’s freedom and security. In turn, our tribe

has used those freedoms to cultivate our culture, our history, and above all, our

unique Meskwaki Language. As such, we continue to contribute to the rich diversity

that befits our great Nation.

Time is of the essence. Already we have lost too many of these great warriors.

Each of the men who served as a Code Talker deserves to know that the Nation

they served honors their sacrifices. For those whom we have lost, we must demonstrate to their families that they have not been forgotten.

I would hope that your committee will grant these Brave Warriors the commendations that they have deserved for more than 60+ years.

May the Great Spirit be with you in your decision. Thank you.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MELVIN KERCHEE, SECRETARY-TREASURER, COMANCHE

NATION

Chairman and honorable members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am Melvin Kerchee, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer

of the Comanche Nation. I have the honor this morning, as the official representative of the government of the Comanche Nation, to accompany Charles Chibitty, the

last of the Comanche Code Talkers. It is a title he carries with deep pride and a
29

certain degree of sadness. The pride he feels arises from the opportunity to serve

his country, the United States of America, up the slopes of Utah Beach at Normandy and across the battlefields of Europe, during World War II. It is a pride he

feels because he and 13 other Comanche warriors were able to use their own Comanche language to devise an unbreakable code. It is a pride that all Indians feel

because of the numbers of American Indians who enlisted in the military. The Saturday Evening Post editorial board suggested in 1941 that the draft would not be

needed if other young man volunteered like American Indian men. Historians say

that Indians enlisted in greater proportions to their numbers than all other people

in the United States.

The sadness he feels arises from the fact that recognition of the extraordinary

service of the Code Talkers and the work of his comrades in arms comes in the twilight of his years and that his fellow Code Talkers are not here to share this recognition. Gone are:

Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Forrest Kassanovoid, Willington Mihecoby,

Perry Noyebad, Clifford Otitivo, Simmons Parker, Melvin Permansu, Dick Red Elk,

Elgin Red Elk, Larry Saupitty, Morris Sunrise, and Willie Yackeschi.

The story of the Code Talkers was considered classified information and not released until 1968. The story has leaked into history and our awareness like a dripping faucet, drop by drop. The Navajo Code Talkers are of course the most prominent in the public at large, but there has been little recognition in the United States

of other tribes’ military service as Code Talkers.

For the Comanche, it was initially the French Government who recognized their

contribution when, in 1989, it awarded the Choctaw and Comanche chiefs the Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Merit (Chevalier of the National Order of Merit) in recognition of the code talker duties for their respective service in World War I and

World War II. At that time Forrest Kassanavoid and Roderick Red Elk were still

with us.

In 1995, Mr. Chibitty received the Knowlton Award, created by the Military Intelligence Corps Association to recognize significant contributions to military intelligence efforts. The award is named in honor of Revolutionary War Army Lt. Col.

Thomas Knowlton.

Finally, on Nov. 30, 1999, Mr. Chibitty, then 78, was honored in Washington, DC

at the Department of Defense, as the last surviving World War II Army Comanche

‘‘Code Talker’’ during a ceremony in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes. Sadly, however,

there has never been formal recognition of the Comanche Code Talkers by the U.S.

Government.

Two bills introduced in Congress, S. 540 and H.R. 1093, as the ‘‘Code Talkers Recognition Act,’’ focus on the contribution of American Indian soldiers during the Second World War. These bills or similar legislation, as well as this hearing, help focus

attention on the critical strategic service provided by the Code Talkers that is long

overdue. I would urge Congress to act quickly so that these American Indian warriors, these United States soldiers can be honored properly. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF DON LOUDNER, NATIONAL COMMANDER, AMERICAN INDIAN VETERANS

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue that is very important

to me—appropriate recognition for all American Indian Code Talkers. I am honored

to be here.

American Indians have a long and proud history of service in the military. Statistically, American Indians volunteer to serve their country at a higher percentage

during all wars or conflicts than any other ethic group.

In fact, American Indians fought for the United States of America before they

were recognized as citizens of their own country.

The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that American Indians have

the highest rate of military service among all ethnic groups in the Nation, and the

VA’s statistics also show that the American Indian veteran is the least likely veteran to apply for the benefits he or she has earned.

The American Indian Veteran has been forgotten or put on the back burner for

far too long.

During World War I and World War II, American Indian veterans from at least

17 Indian Nations served the armed forces of the United States in a vital and

unique capacity, by using their native languages to foil enemy communications.

They became known as Code Talkers from the use of their languages to transmit

messages in a form the enemy could not decipher.
30

Many of these veterans worked 24 hours around the clock in headphones when

the action was the heaviest, without rest or sleep. Their work saved the lives of

countless other Americans and Allied Forces. These Code Talkers deserve their own

pages in the national memory of the great world wars.

But I fear many Code Talkers could be forgotten. One tribe, the Navajo, has had

its Code Talkers honored with medals from the U.S. Congress. The Comanche Code

Talkers have a fine book written about them. But military records and other sources

indicate that military Code Talkers came from many other tribes and spoke many

other languages.

The first official use of an American Indian language—based on code by the U.S.

military—was in 1918, toward the end of World War I.

Convinced that their communications lines were tapped, Captain E.W. Homer selected 14 Choctaws to transmit messages.

In his report, the commanding officer, Col. A.W. Block, said, ‘‘The enemy’s complete surprise is evidence that he could not decipher the messages. The results were

gratifying.’’ Following that successful experiment, other Indians in the Expeditionary Force—Cheyenne, Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, and Sioux were called on to use

their languages for field communications.

In addition, to the fine service of the Navajo, 17 other tribes are mentioned as

having Code Talkers during World War II:

Choctaw, Comanche, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Chippewa, Creek, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee-Seminole, Osage, Oneida, Pawnee, Pima-Papago, Sauk and Fox,

Sioux-(Dakota, Lakota, Nakota-Dialects), and Winnebago

Mr. Chairman, we must act on two fronts: First, we must correct our Nation’s

military history, to ensure that the service and sacrifice of Code Talkers from all

tribes is remembered; and second, our Nation must find an appropriate way to

honor all Code Talkers.

To properly honor the Code Talkers, we should have a public monument in our

Nation’s capital. I want to make sure that my grandchildren—and their countrymen—can see a permanent and prominent symbol. A symbol of a time when American Indian languages became a powerful weapon in the fight for freedom. My view

is that the perfect location for such a monument would be the grounds of the new

National Museum of the American Indian.

I commend the Senate for honoring the Sioux Code Talkers in 1995. In the 104th

Congress, the Senate approved S. Res. 116 on May 8, 1995, introduced by Senator

Daschle, Senator Pressler, Senator Inouye, and Senator McCain.

The Code Talkers from South Dakota were also honored in the 77th Legislature

of the State of South Dakota, House Commemoration No. 1026. The South Dakota

Legislature recognized the following Sioux Code Talkers for their immeasurable contribution to their Nation in a time of great need:

Edmund St. John from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Phillip ‘‘Stoney’’ LaBlanc

from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Eddie Eagle Boy from the Cheyenne River

Sioux Tribe, Guy Rondell from the Sisseton-Whapeton Sioux Tribe, John Bear King

from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Walter C. John from the Santee Sioux Tribe,

Iver Crow Eagle from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Simon Broken Leg from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Charles Whitepipe from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Baptiste

Pumpkinseed from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Clarence Wolf Guts from the Oglala

Sioux Tribe.
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94Æ