4th Division's Elite Comanches

The Comanche Code Talkers were a group of seventeen young men who were chosen to enter the elite group of the Army's 4th Division in World War II Europe.  The code talkers relayed critical messages from headquarters to the various regiments in Comanche, a language that the enemy could not decipher.  At the time, the Comanche language was only a spoken language; it had no alphabet, dictionary or textbook.1

The lone survivor of the group is Charles Chibitty of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 1989, the French Government honored the survivors of the group for their important contribution with the "Chevalier de L'Order National du Merite".  The United States government has not offered any special recognition for the group.

Sources

The Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee Numu Tekwapuha Nomneekatu, Lawton, Oklahoma.

Nott, Randi Preserving the Comanche Language, Master's Thesis, North Central College, Naperville, IL, 1997.