Choctaw code talkers The Choctaw code talkers were a group of Choctaw Indians from Oklahoma who pioneered the use of Native American languages as military code . Their exploits took place during the waning days of . The government of the Choctaw Nation maintains these men were the first native code talkers ever to serve in the U . S . military . Origin of code talking . Code talking , the practice of using complex Native American languages for use as military code by American armed forces , got its start during . The German forces proved not only to speak excellent English , but also to have intercepeted and broken American military codes . An American officer , Colonel A . W . Bloor , noticed a number of American Indians serving with him in the 142nd Infantry in France . Overhearing two Choctaw Indians speaking with each another , he realized he could not understand them . He also realized that if he could not understand them , neither could the Germans , no matter how good their English skills , since many Native American languages have never been written down . With the active cooperation of his Choctaw soldiers , he tested and deployed a code , using the Choctaw language in place of regular military code . The first combat test took place on October 26 , 1918 when Colonel Bloor ordered a " delicate " withdrawal of two companies of the 2nd Battalion , from Chufilly to Chardeny . The movement was successful . " The enemy ' s complete surprise is evidence that he could not decipher the messages " , Bloor observed . A captured German officer confirmed they were " completely confused by the Indian language and gained no benefit whatsoever " from their wiretaps . Native Americans were already serving as messengers and runners between units . By placing Choctaws in each company , messages could be transmitted regardless if the radio was overheard or the telephone lines tapped . In a post - war memo , Colonel Bloor expressed his pleasure and satisfaction . " We were confident the possibilities of the telephone had been obtained without its hazards . " He noted , however , that the Choctaw tongue , by itself , was unable to fully express the military terminology then in use . No Choctaw word or phrase existed to describe a " machine gun " , for example . So the Choctaws improvised , using their words for " big gun " to describe " artillery " and " little gun shoot fast " for " machine gun " . " The results were very gratifying , " Bloor concluded . The Code Talkers . The men who made up the United States ' first code talkers were either full - blood or mixed - blood Choctaw Indians . All were born in the Choctaw Nation of the Indian Territory , in what is now southeastern Oklahoma , during the time their nation was a self - governed republic . Later , other tribes would use their languages for the military in various units , most notably the Navajo in World War II . The nineteen known code talkers are as follows : Additional Choctaw soldiers may have contributed to the effort , although records in this regard do not explicitly confirm it . Tobias Frazier , as example , often referred to a Choctaw Code Talker whose surname was Simpson , from Moyers , Oklahoma . Recognition . Little was said or written of the code talkers after World War I . The earliest known mention in the media appears to have been 1928 , when an Oklahoma City newspaper described their unusual activities . The Choctaw themselves appear not to have referred to themselves as ' code talkers ' . The phrase was not coined until during or after World War II . In describing their wartime activities to family members , at least one member of the group , Tobias W . Frazier , always used the phrase , " talking on the radio " , by which he meant field telephone . During recent decades Hollywood has " discovered " code talkers , but not the Choctaw code talkers . World War II Navajo code talkers have become the subject of movies , documentaries , and books . The Navajo , with their history of opposing the United States in war , have proven in almost all aspects , to be a more popular subject than the quiet , orderly , agrarian Choctaw Indians , who , in the early 19th century , adopted an American - style constitution and government , complete with elections and separation of powers . The Choctaw government awarded the code talkers posthumous Choctaw Medals of Valor at a special ceremony in 1986 . France followed suit in 1989 , awarding them the Fifth Republic ' s " Chevalier de l ' Ordre National du Merite " ( Knight of the National Order of Merit ) . In 1995 the Choctaw War Memorial was erected at the Choctaw Capitol Building in Tuskahoma , Oklahoma . It includes a huge section of granite dedicated to the Choctaw Code Talkers . On November 15 , 2008 , The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 ( Public Law 110 - 420 ) , was signed into law by President George W . Bush , which recognizes every Native American code talker who served in the United States military during World War I or World War II ( with the exception of the already - awarded Navajo ) with a Congressional Gold Medal for his tribe ( to be retained by the Smithsonian Institution ) , and a silver medal duplicate to each code talker .