Code talkers.

[Vida Stabler]

Mr. Tom Leonard, sounds like you were really blessed to know these men.  
Vida

Tom Leonard wrote:
> FYI -
>
> Charles Chibitty, the last survivor of 20 Comanche code talkers who 
> used their native language to transmit messages for the Allies in 
> Europe during World War II died in July 2005. He was 83.
>
> "/It's strange, but growing up as a child I was forbidden to speak my 
> native language at school," Chibitty said in 2002. "Later my country 
> asked me to. My language helped win the war and that makes me very 
> proud. Very proud./"
>
> I knew Charlie (he lived nearby, here in Tulsa) Forrest Kassanavoid, 
> and a few of the others. They were ALL great guys...real gentlemen. It 
> was a honor to know them and to have the opportunity to visit with them.
>
> Some further info here:
> http://www.comanchelanguage.org/Comanche%20Code%20Talkers.htm
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker
>
>
>
> Rankin, Robert L wrote:
>> Interesting.  All this stuff should be collected and the principals interviewed to the extent that it's still possible.  The participants didn't want to talk about it for a long time because it was "classified", but that is no longer the case (although I suppose interviewers should get a letter from the Pentagon saying so).
>>  
>> Bob
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Justin McBride
>> Sent: Wed 4/30/2008 11:39 AM
>> To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
>> Subject: Re: Code talkers.
>>
>>
>>
>> I went to a code talker reception in Oklahoma City a year or two ago. I
>> heard something I'd never considered before. There have been several
>> instances in wars past in which two or more fluent tribal language speakers
>> from the same community happened to be in the same batch of soldiers (unit,
>> platoon, or whatever). In those cases, speakers were not infrequently called
>> upon to communicate by way of their shared language, especially in
>> close-fighting situations where the shouting of tactical orders may have
>> been overheard by enemy troops that may have knowledge of English. Soldiers
>> who did this sort of thing weren't code talkers per se, and have never been
>> recognized for their contributions to the war effort.
>>
>> I recently heard that there were a few Kaw "code talkers," and ever since
>> that reception I've wondered if the designation may have actually referred
>> to this phenomenon of impromptu tribal language use in combat settings. I
>> wanted to ask one of those guys who was supposedly such a talker, Houston
>> Taylor, but he recently passed away. I guess these guys, however heroic,
>> aren't getting any younger.
>>
>> -Justin
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Rankin, Robert L" <rankin at ku.edu>
>> To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:54 AM
>> Subject: RE: Code talkers.
>>
>>
>> I'd guess that, over time, the "code(s)" could have been broken.  As several
>> have said, any language can be reduced to its grammar.  In the case of the
>> American Indian languages, they were used as tactical codes, not strategic
>> codes, as far as I know.  The latter are used for diplomatic and general
>> staff, etc. communications, and it was those that our cryptanalysts had the
>> best luck with against the Japanese and Germans.  Even if the Japanese had
>> painfully learned Navajo (or Seminole, Choctaw, Omaha, Comanche, etc.), they
>> would have had to be able to understand the language spoken rapidly by
>> native speakers under battlefield conditions.  How many of us could do that
>> with the Siouan languages we've studied for so many years!?  As an aside, I
>> don't think the alleged "difficulties" of the Navajo language had much of
>> anything to do with its success as a code.
>>
>> On top of the language there was a fairly simple substitution code with
>> different words for various military terms, and they would have had to be
>> decrypted too.  All in all, it was a terrifically efficient system, and the
>> participants deserve all of the credit that has been bestowed on them,
>> however belatedly.
>>
>> The contribution of the Navajos has become pretty well known, but I think
>> someone should try to interview any left who were from other tribes -- in
>> any war.  And, if not them, then their living relatives.  There's definitely
>> a book to be written there, and who better to write it than someone with
>> roots in the Native American community or a linguist?
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>>
>>