The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II

by William C. Meadows

Among the allied troops that came ashore in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were thirteen Comanches in the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Company. Under German fire they laid communications lines and began sending messages in a form never before heard in Europe—coded Comanche. For the rest of World War II, the Comanche Code Talkers played a vital role in transmitting orders and messages in a code that was never broken by the Germans. This book tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers for the first time. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present. He also provides the first comparison of Native American code talking programs, comparing the Comanche Code Talkers with their better-known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific and with other Native Americans who used their languages, coded or not, for secret communication. Meadows sets this history in a larger discussion of the development of Native American code talking in World Wars I and II, identifying two distinct forms of Native American code talking, examining the attitudes of the American military toward Native American code talkers, and assessing the complex cultural factors that led Comanche and other Native Americans to serve their country in this way.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Dr. Meadows holds a B.A. from Indiana University (1989) with a double major in anthropology and history, and M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. degrees in cultural anthropology from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Meadows has performed fieldwork and published in the subfields of cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology. He has performed cultural and linguistic fieldwork with the Kiowa, Comanche, Naishan Apache, Cheyenne, and Crow tribes, as well as in Japan, and has carried out archaeological fieldwork in the Midwestern United States.

Before joining Missouri State University, Dr. Meadows taught in the anthropology departments at Colorado State University (1995-1997) and Indiana State University (1998-2003).

Dr. Meadows research interests include: 1) past and present Native American cultures with emphasis on Plains and Southeastern cultures, code talkers, Native Americans in the military, contemporary Native American issues, and art; 2) Japan; 3) ethnography, ethnohistory, field research methods, language and culture, sodalities; and 4) midwestern archaeology, and chert studies. He teaches World Cultures (ANT 100), North American Indian Cultures (ANT 325), Peoples and Cultures of Japan (ANT 330), Plains Indians (ANT 330), North American Archaeology (ANT 360), North American Indians Today (ANT 425), and an ethnographic field school (ANT 490). He is currently finishing a book of Kiowa ethnogeography.

Dr. Meadows is the author of two books; Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche Military Societies (1999); and The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II (2002). He has also published articles in Plains Anthropologist, Great Plains Quarterly, and Ohio Archaeologist. Dr. Meadows testified before Congress regarding Native American Code Talkers in 2004 and spoke at the Library of Congress in 2005. He is a member of the Missouri State Native American Studies Committee, and the Central States and Missouri Archaeological Societies.

Reviews

[Michael K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be very interesting how the Commanche Code Talkers came into being. The Germans had the Enigma Machine, but we had the Commanche language which was never written down and, therefore, was unknown to the rest of the world. The phenomenal feats and heroism by these members of the Kiowa, Comanche, Naishan Apache, Cheyenne, Navajo and Crow tribes that entered into the military service during World War I & II. The language and linguistic behaviors of the Native American Indian peoples were so unknown throughout the world that it was a code that was out in the public eye, but forgotten about. Worth it to learn about such a thing within your history!

[Mitchell Gehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps not the best written history book I’ve ever read, but its coverage of a relatively little known topic make it an easy recommendation.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Powerful Contribution, Long Overlooked

Native Americans have made big contributions to the U.S. military for at least 150 years, quietly, with dignity and bravery and most of that contribution has been overlooked until recently. That’s why I wanted to read and learn from this book. And I did learn. But this really isn’t a popular press offering, it reads like a well-researched academic thesis.
While the research is useful and impressive, it screams for some thorough editing. The sheer repetition, paragraph to paragraph, chapter to chapter, is mind-numbing. Were I a history professor, I’d grade this an A. But I was a newspaper editor and journalism professor. From my viewpoint, as a work for the average reader of history, this a C. Editing could improve it greatly.

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's another instance of a book that started life as an academic thesis. It draws attention to the seventeen Comanche men who trained with the U.S. Army Signal corps during World War II. Thirteen of them went on to serve in the European theather and were part of one of the most highly decorated combat divisions in the war. They developed a code based on their native language so that even if another Comanche heard it, that person would be unable to figure out what was being said. The book highlights the ways in which enlisting in the Army gave twentieth-century Comanche men a way to link to the traditions of war, honor, and defense of their sacred homeland when traditional paths to these cultural landmarks had all but disappeared.
Unfortunately, the book is written in a very academic style, with frequent repetitions of the same quotes or descriptions or explanations. Yet it provides one of the most complete account of the Comanches' vital service and preserves valuable information that would have otherwise been lost.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book for those interested in WW2 history. Although the Navaho Code Talkers are more famous, they operated in the Pacific theatre. The Comanche Code Talkers were in Europe primarily active from D-Day to the end of the war.

Meadows managed to interview many of the surviving Talkers, in addition to getting the history from the army released. However the book is a bit academic in tone, and that may or may not appeal to all readers.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written book about the Comanche Code Talkers in WWII. They served in Europe and some of them were out on the front lines, sending messages back to other units, using the Comanche language. The Germans never were able to break it and they contributed significantly to the success of the American victories over Nazi Germany.

[Rosemary Blough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very detailed book. Who knew Comanches were code walkers like the Navajo but several other tribes as well. Vert detailed and informative. Great little back stories on some of them. True Heroes.

[Dorothy Taylor]

Very informing, but an academic read with lots of repetition of information.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched and extremely detailed slice of military history. Not really for a casual reader like me. This book reads more like a textbook, and is also quite repetitive.