" Choctaw Code Talkers allowed the Americans to execute a surprise attack on the Germans in World War I. "
Warfare History Network
Warfare History Network
"The affection that Europeans have for the Great American West is well known, so it shouldn’t be surprising that several traveling Wild West Shows happened to be in enemy territory when World War I broke out. One was in Berlin, another in Trieste. Both troupes contained a contingent of Native Americans and both were harassed by mobs caught up in patriotic fervor. So it was that the Onondaga and Oneida Indian tribes were insulted enough to exercise their autonomy as nations separate from, but enclosed within, the United States, to declare war on Germany in 1914. They were the first Americans to do so, but not the last."
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"But the use of Indian languages continued in the rear. Organized under a Lieutenant Black, more Choctaw were added, including Albert Billy, Victor Brown, Tobias Frazier, Ben Hampton, Joseph Oklahombi, and Walter Leach for a total of 14. In addition to the language, a code had to be developed because ordinary Choctaw lacked words for military terms. Artillery therefore became “big gun,” machine gun became “little gun shoots fast,” casualties became “scalps,” poison gas became “bad air,” and the battalions became one, two, or three grains of corn. Fifteen days later the war was over."