During World War II, the United States military used select Native American service men to relay secret battle messages based on words from their traditional tribal languages. “Code Talkers,” as they came to be known, are twentieth–century heroes.

Twenty-one Comanche men were hand-picked by the U.S. Government to participate in the WWII Code Talker program. Seventeen of those men went on to enlist in the U.S. Army and received training with the 4th Infantry Division. The Army gave them free rein to develop secret Comanche code words that no one outside the group would be able to understand, including other Comanches.

1921-2005

(Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

It took a military machine up to four hours to transmit and decode a message, but a Comanche Code Talker could decode the same message in less than three minutes.

Their codes were never broken.

Several Comanche Code Talkers were wounded in battle but all survived the war. These valiant soldiers are credited with saving the lives of thousands of American and Allied service men. All the Comanche Code Talkers have now passed away but their heroic actions will forever be remembered by a grateful Nation.