Tse-gah dzeh dibeh-yazzie dibeh-yazzie a-kha / Gloe-ih a-kha gha dibeh-yazzie be
Here are the Comanche Code Talkers (from a Comanche Language site.) Charles Chibitty is in the front row, 2nd from the right.
Posted on 07/22/2005 5:05:33 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
OKLAHOMA CITY - Charles Chibitty, the last survivor of the Comanche code talkers who used their native language to transmit messages for the Allies in Europe during World War II, has died. He was 83.
Chibitty, who had been residing at a Tulsa nursing home, died Wednesday, said Cathy Flynn, administrative assistant in the Comanche Nation tribal chairman's office.
The group of Comanche Indians from the Lawton area were selected for special duty in the U.S. Army to provide the Allies with a language that the Germans could not decipher. Like the larger group of Navajo Indians who performed a similar service in the Pacific theater, the Comanches were dubbed "code talkers."
"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. "
In a 1998 story for The Oklahoman, Chibitty recalled being at Normandy on D-Day, and said someone once asked him what he was afraid of most and if he feared dying.
"No. That was something we had already accepted," he said.
"But we landed in deeper water than anticipated. A lot of boys drowned. That's what I was afraid of."
"I wonder what the hell Hitler thought when he heard those strange voices," he once told a gathering.
Chibitty was born Nov. 20, 1921, near Medicine Park and attended high school at Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kan. He enlisted in 1941.
In 1999, Chibitty received the Knowlton Award, which recognizes individuals for outstanding intelligence work, during a ceremony at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.
"We could never do it again," Chibitty told Oklahoma Today. "It's all electronic and video in war now."
Later my country asked me to. My language helped win the war and that makes me very proud. Very proud. "
Notice the the words "my country" and "proud"
When I taught a class in mongolia as an icebreaker I asked them what they were most proud of. Most said they were proud of being Mongolians and their heritage. I don't think that would be true for many Americans.
Sen. Bingaman (D-NM) is looking for any Navajo Code Talkers left. There were 5 known to be still alive in 2001. He's written up an excellent page on it here.
"I was under the impression that they were mostly Navajos"
You are correct. The History/Discovery? Channel did an excellent piece on these guys with all due honors to their efforts. Not sure when it was filmed but, as I recall there were about 6-8 guys still alive.
For all the PC BS that exist today, these guys were proud to serve and afterall one pointed out, it's our country too!
Given today's political climate the NYTimes would probably headline how Rumsfield seeks to exploit the helpless indigeous Native Americans.
Thanks Cloud, great site.
FYI, for anyone wishing to learn more the History Channel piece is available on DVD.
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=70681
""We weren't fighting for your country, we were fighting for our country." Carl Gorman, 2nd Marine Division. "Without the Navajo, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima." Major Howard Conor, 5th Marine Division.
Their forefathers had battled the U.S. Cavalry with grim determination and fierce pride. They had lost, and the Navajo Indians were forced to live on reservations where U.S. policy tried to strip them of their heritage and history. Yet, when World War II thrust the nation into its hour of need, young Navajo soldiers responded with one of the most important, secret and least heralded accomplishments of the conflict.
NAVAJO CODE TALKERS tells the incredible story of the only unbroken code in modern military history Navajo soldiers weaved their ancient language into a cipher that the enemies were unable to break. Numerous interviews with surviving code talkers illuminates their role, heroism and motivations. See how their legacy affects the Navajo people today and how the code they devised has served America since WWII.
More info on the CodeTalkers
http://codetalkers.info/
I believe Scotty was wounded rather severely in World War II himself. I think he was a hero in his own right....
Yut Ta Hay...Go with the great Spirit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1447278/posts
The Last Comanche Code-Talker is gone.
" At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans."
The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/20/obit.doohan.ap/index.html
Tse-gah dzeh dibeh-yazzie dibeh-yazzie a-kha / Gloe-ih a-kha gha dibeh-yazzie be
Here are the Comanche Code Talkers (from a Comanche Language site.) Charles Chibitty is in the front row, 2nd from the right.
Thanks for this info on him, he was a true hero like all the others during that time, including my dad who was one in the Normandy landings and who just died in May. This still does not negate my original point!
nope.
they should be covering this guy too, but Scotty was known for things over and beyond what THIS hero was known for....
As with most media outlets, higher name recognition = More headlines.....
Personally, I think we could all learn a lot from Native Americans, and our actions prove who really is/was civilized.
Come to find out it was Custer who slaughtered those Indians [under Sheridan{sp?}].
Payback's a bear, General.
Phil Sheridan and Sherman [*Spit*] wanted to exterminate every Native American on the continent. Grant didn't stop them, and this was all under the aegis of the 'American Manifesto' - the premise that God gave the continent to Americans (<==== European descendants, not native Americans).
Some 11 men, 16 women and 9 children were slaughtered at sunrise. Several of the women were pregnant, yet the 'civilized' troops cut their wombs open, and the unborn child pulled out to die on the frozen ground.
Payback's a bear, General.
Bump.
Every year in Fredericksburg, TX the Comanches hold their pow-wow, about mid-May. They still make a big deal about the friendship between the Comanches and the German settlers in the Texas Hill Country.
This was on the Washita Rv.? Googled it and they were Cheyenne, not Araphahos. If so, all the men were too old to fight, sheesh!
The Comanches met within walking distance of this house.
Both the German and Bohemians got along with the Indians because they left others alone and kept to themselves.
Update:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513640/posts
Comanche code talker answered ‘Call to Duty’ (Remembering a Veteran)
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