Posted on 07/20/2005 8:10:35 PM PDT by Old Landmarks
The last Comanche Code-Talker, Charles Chibitty has passed away. He died at around 4 p.m. today in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
He was 83 years of age, just shy of 84. Charlie had been ill and in the hospital for several months.
He was a friend to many of us and a good father, husband and soldier.
RIP to this great American. His legend and that of his fellow code talkers will live on.
Fallen Code Talker
Can anyone recommend a good site to read up on what they did? Thanks.
Thanks for the ping, SR. Ode to a fallen warrior.
God bless this brave man.
Comanche Code Talker
Charles Chibitty
line space
By Rudi Williams / American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2002 — After meeting with the defense secretary and other top Pentagon officials on Nov. 5, Charles Chibitty, the last surviving World War II Comanche code talker, donned his feathered Indian chief's headdress and offered a prayer in the Pentagon Chapel for those killed in the terrorist attack on the building.
The aging code talker then placed a wreath and offered an Indian prayer at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. This marks the third time the 81-year old war veteran was honored at the Pentagon for his service to the nation. His visits in 1992 and 1999 were during National American Indian Heritage Month.
>>>snip
Since there was no Comanche word for machine gun it became "sewing machine," Chibitty noted, "because of the noise the sewing machine made when my mother was sewing." Hitler, he said, was "posah-tai-vo," or "crazy white man."
>>>snip
http://defendamerica.mil/profiles/nov2002/pr111202a.html
For the military, they talked in code using Comanche.
http://bingaman.senate.gov/code_talkers/
We have a Navajo code talker here (Cortez Colorado)...he speaks several times a month to anyone who wants to attend. His name is Samuel Sandoval.
The Code-Talkers were a blessing to America; they're services are written down on the pages of history.
Hope you found the "green pastures", Charles.
RIP hero.
Thanks, very interesting read.
Bless our native brothers.
Good movie about them with Nicholas Cage -- wither called Windtalkers or Codetalkers -- highly reccommend it.
Bookmark.
Ping
A Hero gone to his great reward.
These men were giants.
May God bless a fallen American hero.
Every time I read of another hero passing, it brings tears to my eyes. They were incredible men and I pray that we will continue to have generations of Americans that live up to the example that they have set.
Hero bump!
God rest his soul. God bless Charles Chibitty, and his family.
Sending him off with such gratitude.
Rest in peace Soldier.
Salute!
Rest easy.
Rest in Peace!
Prayers Up... RIP
My dad (tank commander) was a buddy of Charlie's during the War and I grew up hearing about him. Only after the government broke the silence about the talkers decades later did my dad tell me about the secret stuff. Those guys were loyal to the end.
Thank God for this hero!
May this brave and noble warrior always soar with the eagle and watch over us from above.
Indian Code TalkersThe Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They served in all six Marine divisions, Marine Raider battalions and Marine parachute units, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native language -- a code that the Japanese never broke.
Why Navajo?
The idea to use Navajo for secure communications came from Philip Johnston, the son of a missionary to the Navajos and one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language fluently. Johnston, reared on the Navajo reservation, was a World War I veteran who knew of the military's search for a code that would withstand all attempts to decipher it. He also knew that Native American languages—notably Choctaw—had been used in World War I to encode messages.
Johnston believed Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code because Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity. Its syntax and tonal qualities, not to mention dialects, make it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the American
Being from Arizona, I had heard a lot about the Navajo code talkers and what they did during World War II, but only recently found out about the service of the Comanche code talkers . This old soldier salutes another soldier who has gone to heaven.
Star, have you run across any Code Talker sites in your research?
I know the movie you're talking about, I have it on VHS. I believe it's "Windtalkers", but I'll have to watch it tomorrow night to make sure. ;^)
RIP to a good, fine, upstanding Marine, from an Army guy...
The Code-Talkers saved many lives. There is a nice Code-Talker display in Kayenta, Arizona on the Navajo reservation. It is in a Burger King, of all places -- which is perfect because it is easy to find, and open on weekends. If you are going from Durango to Flagstaff you will go right by it. After Kayenta and Tuba City you will see the herds of sheep tended only by sheep dogs. It is a beautiful part of the country.
God Bless this American Hero. Rest in Peace Charles Chibitty. My prayers go out to his family & friends.
Thanks for the link...I do find this disturbing tho...
"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."
So sad that our own government thinks so little of its' veterans.
Charles Chibitty was one of 17 Oklahoma Comanches attached to the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Corps, during WWII. They made the D-Day landing and served as communicators through St. Lo, Huertgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, and Germany without a single mistake or fatality to their group.
Plus the Japanese were great code breakers but they didn't have a clue how to break the Indian language codes. They never came close to breaking them and were completely baffled.
It might make you feel a little better regarding the deserved recognition for the Code-Talkers if you check out this link. One recognition from the Pentagon was presented by our now VP Cheney in '92. There were others.
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/1999/b11301999_bt550-99.html
May his spirit rest forever...
The aging code talker then placed a wreath and offered an Indian prayer at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. This marks the third time the 81-year old war veteran was honored at the Pentagon for his service to the nation. His visits in 1992 and 1999 were during National American Indian Heritage Month.
I know Choctaw were. I also remember Sioux, Creek, Kiowa, Hopi... I know there were quite a few others.
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