    [Senate Hearing 108-693]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 108-693

                                  CODE TALKERS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                          COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                          ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                       ON

      CONTRIBUTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN CODE TALKERS IN AMERICAN MILITARY
                                    HISTORY

                                   __________

                               SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
                                 WASHINGTON, DC

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
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                          COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

                  BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Chairman

                    DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Vice Chairman

    JOHN McCAIN, Arizona,                KENT CONRAD, North Dakota
    PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico         HARRY REID, Nevada
    CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming                DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
    ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah                 BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota
    JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma            TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota
    GORDON SMITH, Oregon                 MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
    LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

             Paul Moorehead, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

            Patricia M. Zell, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

                                      (ii)

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Statements:
        Brown, John S., Chief of Military History and Commander, U.S.
          Army Center of Military History............................     5
        Campbell, Hon. Ben Nighthorse, U.S. Senator from Colorado,
          chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs......................     1
        Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from Oklahoma............     2
        Johnson, Hon. Tim, U.S. Senator from South Dakota............     9
        Keahna, Samson, Vietnam veteran, Sac and Fox Tribe of the
          Mississippi in Iowa........................................    18
        Kerchee, Melvin, secretary-treasurer, Comanche Nation........    17
        Loudner, Donald, National Commander, National American Indian
          Veterans Association.......................................    13
        Mansfield, Gordon H., Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
          Department of Veterans Affairs.............................     3
        Meadows, William C., professor, Department of Sociology and
          Anthropology, Southwest Missouri State University..........    19
        Pushetonequa, Wayne, council member, Sac and Fox Tribe of the
          Mississippi in Iowa........................................    18
        Pyle, Gregory E. chief, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma...........    15
        Roberts, Robin, Meskwaki Tribal Member.......................    12
        Steele, John Yellow Bird, President, Oglala Sioux Tribal
          Council....................................................    13
        Wolf Guts, Clarence, Oglala Codetalkers......................    11

                                    Appendix

    Prepared statements:
        Brown, John S. (with attachment).............................    25
        Chibitty, Charles, Comanche Code Talker......................    27
        Keahna, Samson...............................................    28
        Kerchee, Melvin..............................................    28
        Loudner, Donald..............................................    29
        Mansfield, Gordon H. (with attachment).......................    31
        Meadows, William C. (with attachment)........................    38
        Pyle, Gregory E. (with attachment)...........................    58
        Roberts, Robin (with attachment).............................    59
        Steele, John Yellow Bird.....................................    89
        Wolf Guts, Clarence..........................................    92

                                  CODE TALKERS

                                  ----------

                         WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004

                                           U.S. Senate,
                                   Committee on Indian Affairs,
        Washington, DC.
        The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in room
    562, Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell
    (chairman of the committee) presiding.
        Present: Senators Campbell, Inouye, Cantwell, Conrad,
    Dorgan, Inhofe, Johnson, Murkowski, Thomas.
        The Chairman. The committee will now turn to its hearing,
    which is the committee oversight hearing on the background,
    history and contributions of Native American code talkers in
    American military history.
        Senator Conrad. Mr. Chairman, might I just inquire, will
    this be the last meeting of the committee before Congress
    adjourns?
        The Chairman. No; we have several more.
        Senator Conrad. Good.
        The Chairman. One will be an investigative hearing on
    September 29 and I am not sure what else is on the agenda. We
    will have several more.
        Senator Conrad. All right.

            STATEMENT OF HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, U.S.
             SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON
                             INDIAN AFFAIRS

        The Chairman. In the year 2000, Federal legislation was
    enacted to award Congressional Gold Medals to the Navajo
    codetalkers for their contribution to America's victory over
    the Japanese Empire in World War II. From the end of the war in
    1945-68, the very existence of the Navajo codetalkers was a
    military secret. In the years since, there have been books
    written about the Navajo codetalkers and in 2001 a motion
    picture heralded their efforts.
        However, many Americans do not know that members of nearly
    16 other Indian tribes served as codetalkers in World War I and
    World War II and have never been formally recognized for their
    service to our country. These codetalkers include members of
    the Comanche, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Osage, Lakota, and Dakota
    Sioux, the Chippewa, the Oneida, the Sac and Fox, the Meskwaki,
    the Hopi, Assiniboine, Kiowa, Pawnee, Menominee, the Creek and
    the Seminole Tribes.
        Displayed on the easels to the right and the left of the
    dais, there are pictures from archives, including a picture of
    the Choctaw codetalkers in World War I. They were the first
    codetalkers that played a role in American military operations
    and transmitted vital communications that helped defeat German
    forces in Europe in World War I.
        We also have a picture of a large group of Comanche
    codetalkers who served in World War II, as well as photos of
    Meskwaki codetalkers. The Meskwaki picture is a shot of a young
    Frank Sanache, who until his death last month was among the
    last living codetalkers of his tribe. We are fortunate to have
    one codetalker, Clarence Wolf Guts, a member of the Oglala
    Sioux Tribe, who will be testifying today.
        These Native American codetalkers played a key role in the
    success of our military activities. They have served their
    country honorably and contributed to the well-being and freedom
    of many people in the United States.
        Senator Inouye could not be here today, but I would be glad
    to yield to Senator Inhofe from Oklahoma, if you have comments.

     STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, U.S. SENATOR FROM OKLAHOMA

        Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I would like to make some comments. We have been concerned
    about this for a long time, that this gathering is long
    overdue. Most of you know that people, including myself, have
    been working for years to recognize these individuals. It was a
    great moment just a few weeks ago when we had the World War II
    Monument unveiled. It will be a great moment still when the
    codetalkers are specifically recognized for contributing to the
    fight for the freedom of our country around the world, in both
    World War I and World War II.
        The first reported use of Indian codetalkers was on October
    17, 1918. At that time, most of the Indian people in the United
    States, including members of the Choctaw Nation, which you did
    not mention in your opening statement, were not accorded the
    status of citizens of the United States. Without regard to this
    lack of citizenship, many members of the Choctaw Nation joined
    many members of other Indian tribes and nations and enlisted in
    the armed services to fight on behalf of the United States.
        The members of the Choctaw Nation enlisted in the American
    Expeditionary Force which began hostile actions in France in
    the fall of 1917. One of my closest friends is Greg Pyle. He is
    the chief of the Choctaws who is here as one of our witnesses
    today, Mr. Chairman. We have been friends for a long time. We
    talked about this and talked about the fact that we had a
    number of Choctaws, and that caused me to introduce legislation
    to include not just the Choctaws, but two other tribes, but
    primarily consideration of the Choctaws.
        Charles Chibitty, sometimes he comes. Is Charles Chibitty
    in the room? I guess he is not. He is in very poor health. He
    was here a couple of years ago. It was kind of funny. He used
    to talk about how they would discourage Choctaws or Indians
    from using their native language back in those days until they
    developed this codetalking. I have a quote here by him. He
    said, when we got caught talking Indian, we got punished. After
    the Army years later, he told his cousin, they tried to make us
    quit talking Indian in school, and now they want us to talk
    Indian.
        Well, we are all glad they did not quit talking Indian,
    Greg. Anyway, I want to pay special tribute to him. I am sorry
    that his health did not permit him to be here today. He is
    certainly one of our heroes in Oklahoma and we will make sure
    that he gets a proper recognition.
        So while this hearing is not on my legislation, it is being
    taken up in the Banking Committee and it requires 67
    cosponsors, and Greg, right now we only have 24. We have not
    really spent some time trying to get this done, but we are
    going to do it.
        I appreciate very much what you are doing here today, Mr.
    Chairman.
        The Chairman. I tell my colleague, frankly, I do not know
    if I am on that bill or not, but if I am not, if you would put
    me on as a cosponsor, I'd be honored.
        Senator Inhofe. Now I have 25.
        The Chairman. Now you have 25. That is right. It is
    interesting that American Indians have been in every war since
    the Revolutionary War defending this Nation, and yet before
    1924 they could not even vote for the Commander-in-Chief, for
    example, the President, who was the supreme commander of all
    military, because they were not considered citizens yet, yet
    they were out there putting their lives on the line.
        Senator Inhofe. That is true. We had an opportunity to
    honor one Oklahoma Indian at Fort Sill not too long ago who was
    one of the real heroes. He is the one who intentionally drove
    his tank out into an opening and drew the German fire to save
    his unit. So we have a lot of heroes, and we were able to get
    him posthumously awarded a medal. This was probably about six
    or seven years ago.
        The Chairman. Yes, good.
        If there are no further opening statements, we will go
    ahead and proceed to panel 1. Gordon Mansfield is the Deputy
    Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the Department of Veterans
    Affairs. Brigadier General John Brown is Chief of Military
    History and Commander of the U.S. Army Center of Military
    History.
        Gentlemen, why don't we go in that order. Mr. Mansfield, go
    ahead first.

    STATEMENT OF GORDON H. MANSFIELD, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF VETERANS
                AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

        Mr. Mansfield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning. I
    have a full statement for the record, if I could submit it for
    you.
        The Chairman. It will be included in the record and you may
    abbreviate, if you would like.
        Mr. Mansfield. I am pleased to be here to present the
    department's views on the presentation of medals to Native
    American codetalkers. The timing is really interesting. I had
    the opportunity 10 days ago on September 12 to be a part of the
    dedication of the codetalkers monument on the Navajo Nation.
    They put up that statue, which is really something, right on
    sacred ground, right at Window Rock. I would offer a brochure
    from the dedication for the record also.
        The VA commends you for acknowledging the distinguished
    service in performing invaluable communications operations
    through the use of unique languages that saved countless lives
    and hastened the end of both World War I and World War II. The
    Department of Veterans Affairs has long acknowledged the
    honorable service of our American Indian veterans. They have
    served with distinction in United States military actions, as
    you mentioned, throughout our history. Their valor and courage
    is well documented. It is only right that we further honor that
    same valor and courage with appropriate recognition.
        Today, there are more than 220,000 American Indian
    veterans. In an effort to better address the health care needs
    of these veterans, the Veterans Health Care Administration and
    the Indian Health Service signed a memorandum of understanding
    in 2003 that seeks to combine the strengths and expertise of
    both of these organizations to deliver quality health care
    services to American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.
        To accomplish these goals, the Indian Health Service and
    the Veterans Health Administration are working to establish
    outpatient clinics and contract care partnerships at
    reservation facilities. We are also planning tele-health
    linkages that facilitate the remote delivery of health care
    checkups and mental health and counseling services by
    appropriate specialists.
        The Veterans Benefits Administration outreach coordinators
    participate in a variety of outreach efforts to provide VA
    briefings on reservations and to local American Indian groups.
    In 2002, the VBA developed benefits training for tribal
    veterans' representatives to serve as a resource for
    information on benefits and services and claims submissions. In
    the past two years, 35 tribal veterans' representatives have
    received training on the claims process, VA benefits and
    services, and health care enrollment.
        The VA also administers the Native American Veterans Direct
    Loan Program for Indian veterans living on trust lands. This
    program assists American Indian veterans in financing the
    purchase or improvement of homes on federal trust territories.
    So far, the VA has made almost 400 loans to American Indian
    veterans, closing 120 loans in fiscal year 2003.
        Recently, Secretary Principi strongly supported the
    enactment of H.R. 2983, the Native American Veterans Cemetery
    Act of 2003, to provide eligibility of Indian tribal
    organizations for grants to establish veterans cemeteries on
    trust lands in the same way that grants for state veterans
    cemeteries are made. Currently, the National Cemetery
    Administration encourages participation of tribal interests in
    efforts to establish state veterans cemeteries. NCA also seeks
    to accommodate religious practices and American Indian veterans
    and their families are able to perform tribal rituals in VA's
    national cemeteries.
        The VA will continue to explore all opportunities to
    increase eligible American Indian veteran participation in the
    benefits and health care services that we provide.
        Again, we acknowledge the honor and pride with which
    American Indians have served their country in the military, and
    especially salute the extraordinary contributions of the Native
    American codetalkers. We support the Senate's efforts to
    acknowledge their contributions through these legislative
    efforts. We stand ready to serve them as they have so gallantly
    served their country.
        Mr. Chairman, this completes my statement. I will be happy
    to respond to any questions.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Mansfield appears in appendix.]
        TheChairman. Thank you, Mr. Mansfield. I was just
    reminiscing with Paul Moorehead, the head of our staff for
    Indian Affairs. I think that was one of the first bills I
    introduced years ago on the committee that authorized the VA to
    enter MOUs with tribes to be able to provide money for houses
    on Indian reservations.
        Before that time, they simply could not. An Indian vet
    would come home and he could not get a loan from the bank to
    build on tribal land.
        We did an oversight hearing about 2 or 3 years after that
    bill passed to find out how it was going. At that time, there
    were only three Indians in the whole country that had taken
    advantage of that program. I am glad to hear that at least 400
    have now.
        Mr. Mansfield. Yes, sir.
        The Chairman. I think part of that was our fault, that we
    did not network or get the word out very well through tribes,
    that Indian veterans could avail themselves of that program,
    but it sounds like it is a good program and successful.
        Mr.Mansfield. We are attempting to make it work even
    better, sir.
        TheChairman. Great.
        General Brown, thank you for being here. Why don't you go
    ahead and proceed? Your complete testimony will be included in
    the record if you would like to abbreviate.

      STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL [R] JOHN S. BROWN, CHIEF OF
     MILITARY HISTORY AND DIRECTOR, ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

        Mr. Brown. Thank you, sir, for this opportunity to comment
    on the contributions of Native American codetalkers in American
    military history. Native Americans have a long and proud
    tradition of military service to their several Nations and to
    the United States of America. Our Army archives are replete
    with tales of their valor and Army museums feature equipment
    they have used and medals they have won under trying
    circumstances.
        Among their unique contributions has been their service as
    codetalkers to secure command and control on the battlefield.
    By the early years of the 20th century, command and control had
    become heavily dependent upon electrical communications. Vastly
    increased distances, dispersion and spans of control required
    the use of what were then considered modern technologies such
    as sound locators, buzzer phones and radios, with the land-line
    telephone emerging as the preferred and most reliable means of
    communication for ground combat during World War I.
        Unfortunately, land-lines could be tapped and our German
    adversaries too often listened in. The 36th Division, for
    example, reported having circulated the coordinates of a supply
    dump only to find that location inundated by enemy fire within
    minutes. Other divisions similarly reported facilities or
    operations compromised and lives lost because of intercepted
    communications. Techniques of encryption that did exist proved
    too cumbersome to accommodate fluid battlefield tactics.
        That same 36th Division had within its ranks a company of
    American Indians who spoke a total of 26 Native languages. Only
    four or five of those languages had been committed to writing.
    Someone suggest placing an American Indian soldier in each key
    tactical command post so that the division could rapidly
    communicate sensitive information in a language that the
    eavesdropping Germans could not possibly understand. Choctaw
    was selected as that language.
        The experiment worked so well that a regimental commander
    attributed the success of a delicate nighttime tactical
    withdrawal and again a major assault on the following day to
    the complete surprise achieved by using Choctaw language to
    coordinate operations. The idea caught on. By the end of World
    War I, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Osage, and Yankton
    soldiers were also serving as codetalkers.
        When World War II began, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps
    drew upon the service of codetalkers in a more organized
    manner. By then, the preferred method of communication was
    increasingly wireless radio. However, radio signals were even
    more vulnerable to interception than the telephone. In January
    1941, the U.S. Army recruited Comanche codetalkers to serve in
    its Fourth Infantry Division. A few months later, the Marines
    began recruiting Navajo for the same purpose.
        In the European theater, the Army's Comanche codetalkers
    came ashore on D-Day. On Utah Beach, a Comanche codetalker,
    Larry Saupitty, sent Brigadier General Roosevelt's critical
    message to reinforce an initial landing that had ended up 2,000
    meters away from its designated beaches. Saupitty's message was
    classic in its simplicity: ``We made a good landing. We landed
    at the wrong place.'' The follow-on reinforcements came to the
    right place.
        As Allied troops pushed out of the beachhead, codetalkers
    accompanied the leading regiments and provided communication
    throughout the breakout across France. Scattered throughout the
    division in two-man teams, codetalkers relayed vital messages
    that utterly precluded enemy interceptions of them.
        In the Pacific, the Navajo codetalkers took part in every
    major Marine Corps operation and served in all six Marine
    divisions, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in
    their native tongue. First used on Guadalcanal in the fall of
    1942, Navajo techniques halved the time used for encoding and
    decoding messages. Their greatest test was in early 1945, when
    three Marine divisions stormed Iwo Jima. In the first 2 days of
    fighting, six Navajo codetalkers worked around the clock
    sending and receiving more than 800 messages without a single
    error. One Marine Corps signal officer noted, ``Were it not for
    the Navajo, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.''
        I highly recommend William C. Meadows' book, ``The Comanche
    Code Talkers of World War II,'' as a discussion of the Army's
    codetalking contingent, and Doris A. Paul's, The Navajo Code
    Talkers, as a discussion of the Marines'. I point out, too,
    that the Navajo were the subject of the recent movie,
    ``Windtalkers.''
        Perhaps less familiar to the public, but equally deserving
    of our praise, are the Assiniboin, Cherokee, Chippewa, Oneida,
    Choctaw, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee, Creek, Seminole,
    Pawnee, Sac, Fox, Lakota, and Dakota, who also served in our
    armed forces as codetalkers. It is impossible to calculate how
    many operations were successful and how many lives were saved
    because of communications secured by the codetalkers. It may
    well be that contemporary encryption technology has carried us
    beyond the era in which the services of the codetalkers proved
    most useful. However, an underlying principle remains valid--
    that the diversity and richness of American culture renders it
    far more capable than it would otherwise be of coping with the
    challenges of an uncertain world.
        In addition, the unique and extraordinary record of Native
    American service in the armed forces of the United States
    continues unbroken as our accumulating record of current
    operations attests.
        Thank you, sir.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Brown appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you, General Brown. Let me ask a couple
    of questions, then I will yield the floor to my colleagues
    here.
        Senator Inhofe. My request, Mr. Chairman, is I wanted to be
    here.
        The Chairman. He is going to be on the third panel.
        Senator Inhofe. Okay. As you know, I am chairing the
    Highway Conference Committee and I have to get back to that. I
    was kind of wanting to hear his statement, but thank you very
    much, Mr. Chairman.
        The Chairman. Secretary Mansfield, does the Department of
    Veterans Administration support a formal recognition of the
    codetalkers, the ones who we are talking about today?
        Mr. Mansfield. Yes, sir; we do.
        The Chairman. Obtaining documentation of American Indian
    codetalker veterans is important, but I would imagine a very
    difficult process for their formal recognition. Does the VA
    keep certain records in regards to the Indian codetalker
    veterans?
        Mr. Mansfield. Sir, I do not think we would have any
    indicator specifically that would indicate that a person was a
    codetalker, but I would promise you that we would make every
    effort we can to assist in making those identifications.
        TheChairman. You would be able to do that probably with
    some tribal input, too, I would think.
        Mr.Mansfield. I think it would require some tribal input,
    plus we would have to go back to the records and do some
    searches.
        TheChairman. All right.
        General Brown, in the Center of Military History, is the
    Center of Military History looking into the project to further
    identify codetalker veterans?
        Mr. Brown. We are promulgating a Signal Corps history that
    gives further attention to the codetalkers and to their
    contribution.
        The Chairman. There is no written history about all of them
    now, though, is there?
        Mr. Brown. There is no consistent history that treats all
    of them equitably. Most of our histories speak to one of more
    of the tribes, and then lists the other tribes that made
    contributions, but there is no coherent history that speaks to
    all of them equivalently, no, sir.
        The Chairman. You mentioned at length the Choctaw
    codetalkers and citizenship. World War I, the last 4 years
    between 1914 and 1919, they did not have citizenship, as you
    know. You will have to tell me as a military history expert,
    was there a draft in that time? How did the codetalkers get in?
    Were they all volunteers or did they just go out and ask them
    to volunteer?
        Mr. Brown. There was a draft, but in World War I----
        The Chairman. If they were not citizens, how did they draft
    them?
        Mr. Brown [continuing.] In World War I, the Indians who
    participated in the Army were volunteers.
        The Chairman. As volunteers, to their credit.
        Do you know the numbers? I was surprised to find out there
    were 16 tribes. I knew there were more than just the Navajo and
    the Comanche, but I did not know there were 16. Do you know the
    number of particular codetalkers, because so much has been
    secret for so many years.
        Mr. Brown. It is very difficult to reconstruct accurate
    figures because so many of the codetalkers served in informal
    rather than formal programs. So codetalking that originated at
    the division level and below would not have become a matter of
    record, and also would not have gotten on to a personal record.
    So only the tribes could tell you who of their soldiers served
    in that capacity.
        I would say that from the readings that we have executed,
    virtually all of the American Indians who spoke both their
    native tongue and English were used at one time or another in
    this capacity, and that would come to about at least 21,000
    soldiers in the U.S. Army alone.
        The Chairman. 21,000, perhaps, you said?
        Mr. Brown. 21,000 in the Army, with perhaps 30,000 for the
    armed forces as a whole. In addition to that, when you come to
    formal programs, specifically the programs that have entered
    the record, you have contingents of 20 or more from about seven
    of the tribes, and then the Navajo were recruited even more
    heavily and they had 420 in their contingent. But the formal
    programs, in my view, were the tip of the iceberg and the
    informal programs saw a much larger participation.
        The Chairman. Thank you. There is no question we need to
    give recognition where recognition is deserved. You probably
    will not have the answer to this, but just let me maybe get
    your opinion. I was talking to staff about maybe some of the
    small things that we can do just to start some recognition
    process. One of the things I personally would like to do is
    have a plaque cast for each of those 16 tribes from which the
    codetalkers came that we could send for some permanent display
    in their tribal council or at some location of their choice on
    reservation. Do you think the Department of Defense would
    support that effort?
        Mr. Brown. I am a bit out of my lane, but I would say that
    the Center of Military History certainly would support that.
        The Chairman. I think we are going to introduce that at
    least, and try to attach that to something on the way through
    in these last few days. I will be talking to Senator Inouye
    about it, who is a great war hero himself, as you know, and
    perhaps we can get at least that little thing done in these
    last few days.
        We will go to our second panel. Senator Johnson, did you
    have any opening comments or statements?

     STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

        Senator Johnson. Yes; I do, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
    you and Vice Chairman Inouye for permitting the hearing to take
    place. I would especially like to thank Senator Daschle for his
    ongoing leadership and dedication to Indian issues and his
    request for this hearing to take place. Senator Daschle is a
    blessing to our tribes in South Dakota, and they truly have no
    better friend in Washington.
        I would like to extend a warm welcome to our South Dakota
    witnesses to the committee. We are happy to have Clarence Wolf
    Guts, a former Lakota codetalker, here today. I also want to
    welcome Don Loudner of the American Indian Veterans Association
    and other tribal representatives, Robin Roberts, Samson Keahna,
    Melvin Kerchee, and Chairman Greg Pyle. Additionally, I want to
    welcome again Gordon Mansfield and Brigadier General John Brown
    to this panel here today, as well as Dr. William Meadows,
    author of a very valuable work for us, ``The Comanche Code
    Talkers of World War II.''
        As well from South Dakota with us today are Tom Short Bull,
    who is president of the Oglala-Lakota College; President John
    Steele of the Oglala Sioux Nation; Chairman Harold Frazier of
    the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; as well as Treasurer Benita
    Clark from Cheyenne River, and one of our veterans, Clifton Sky
    from South Dakota.
        I was just told by Chairman Frazier that a member of the
    Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe was wounded seriously yesterday in
    Iraq, so our prayers go to the family of Garlene Tabia Fiota,
    as well as other members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. It
    is one more example of the kind of national service that native
    people have for many generations provided the United States.
        Two years ago, I introduced legislation that would award
    medals to all Native American codetalkers. I am glad to see the
    continued support for our effort to give all Native American
    codetalkers the recognition they deserve. In December 2000, the
    Honoring the Navajo Codetalkers Act was signed into law,
    authorizing the President to award a gold medal on behalf of
    the Congress to each of the original 29 Navajo codetalkers, as
    well as a silver medal to each man who later qualified as a
    Navajo codetalker.
        There is no doubt that the bravery and the courage of the
    Navajo codetalkers helped to make the United States the free
    and proud place it is today. While Navajos have received the
    most recognition, it is important to remember that members of
    at least 17 other tribes also served as codetalkers in World
    War I and World War II. This bill will express the gratitude of
    Congress and the entire Nation to these brave and innovative
    veterans for their contributions and sacrifices to the struggle
    for freedom and democracy.
        The syntax and tonal qualities of languages as unique as
    their people were so complex that no message transmitted by any
    codetalker was ever decoded by the enemy. However, for the
    codetalkers who returned home there were no parades or special
    recognition, as they were sworn to secrecy, an oath they kept
    and honored, but one that robbed them of the accolades and
    place in history that they rightfully deserved.
        When the secrecy surrounding the code was finally lifted,
    only then could the country realize the importance of these
    brave soldiers. Military commanders credited the code with
    saving the lives of countless American soldiers and with the
    successful engagements in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa,
    Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
        The accomplishments of the codetalkers were even more
    heroic, given the cultural context in which they were
    operating. Subjected to alienation in their homeland and
    discouraged from speaking their native languages, they still
    stepped forward and developed the most significant and
    successful military code of their time. That spirit of military
    service continues today. Native Americans make up a higher
    percentage of servicemen and servicewomen in the armed forces
    than any other ethnic group in America. They have served with
    honor in all of America's wars, beginning with the
    Revolutionary War and on through our current operations in
    Iraq.
        Sadly, this past November Sheldon Hawk Eagle, a member of
    the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and a descendant
    of the great Lakota leader Crazy Horse, made the ultimate
    sacrifice for both of his nations. He was among the 17 soldiers
    who lost their lives when two Blackhawk helicopters crashed in
    Northern Iraq. The sacrifices of PFC Hawk Eagle, the
    codetalkers and all Native Americans to our armed services are
    just an example of the great contributions Native Americans
    have made to strengthen our Nation.
        As we recognize the heritage, strength and history and way
    of life of the first Americans at this week's opening of the
    National Museum of the American Indian, it is time to give all
    Native American codetalkers the long-overdue recognition that
    they clearly deserve. In the twilight of their lives, it is
    only fitting that this Nation at least pays them this honor. It
    is essential that we acknowledge the service of these soldiers
    at perhaps our country's most desperate hour, and finally give
    them their rightful place in history.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        We have no further questions. General Brown, Mr. Mansfield,
    thank you very much for appearing.
        We will go on to our next panel. That will be Clarence Wolf
    Guts, Oglala codetalker from Wanblee, SD. He will be
    accompanied by Don Loudner, the National Commander of the
    National American Indian Veterans Association from Mitchell,
    SD, and John Yellow Bird Steele, the president of the Oglala
    Sioux Tribal Council, and Robin Roberts, Meskwaki tribal member
    of Montour, IA.
        Chief Pyle, we have you on the third panel.
        When Mr. Wolf Guts testifies, President Steele, if he would
    prefer to read in his own language, whatever is more
    comfortable for him, if somebody could interpret for the
    record.
        We will hear from Mr. Wolf Guts first.

    STATEMENT OF CLARENCE WOLF GUTS, OGLALA CODETALKER ACCOMPANIED
                          BY: DONALD LOUDNER,
              NATIONAL COMMANDER, NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN
           VETERANS ASSOCIATION; AND JOHN YELLOW BIRD STEELE,
                 PRESIDENT, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL

        Mr. Wolf Guts. I am here today because my God helped me to
    be with my people and the people of the United States of
    America, because we love America so much that we do whatever we
    can to protect her from aggressors of any kind. Nobody can ever
    take that away from us. We love America.
        I am a full-blood Indian, and we do whatever we can to
    protect the United States because we love America. Nobody can
    ever take that away from us. That is how come I will do
    whatever I can to protect it. With my fellow comrades overseas,
    I was sitting there in the foxhole with a radio, trying to give
    the orders that were given to us to pass on to the chief-of-
    staff. You do whatever you can to confuse the enemy. I know
    they were listening to us all the time. They were smart people
    and they listened to us all the time.
        We used our own code and we did whatever we could to
    protect our country. I asked my buddy, he is dead and gone now,
    and I am the only one that is alive from that era. I said, we
    love our country, so we are going to do whatever we can to
    protect that.
        You know, we are Indian, but we know you should do some
    things that are really powerful. Sure, sure, because we want
    America to be free. If the darkness ever took over the world,
    we would all be dead or we would all be slaves to them. We do
    not want that. We do not want it.
        We want our own government to take care of us, to be what
    we are today. We are happy. When I see young children playing
    without any supervision, I realize why we were over there. I am
    proud to be a Lakota Indian. That is what I am, a Lakota
    Indian. Some of the tribe is named Sioux, but we are not Sioux.
    We are Lakota. There are three dialects in South Dakota:
    Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota. When we were talking over the
    radio, we used all of them. Whatever we said, we know what we
    are talking about. We did not want the enemy to come over here
    to America, because we love America.
        That is about all I can say. I want to thank everybody. I
    hope that the good Lord up above is looking down on us to this
    day, and that he can give us the strength and the courage to
    say what we can and to think that we love America and we want
    it to be free.
        I thank you.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Wolf Guts appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Wolf Guts. You are a proud man
    from a proud people.
        It has always interested me that the Lakota people who
    suffered their last great tragedy at the hands of the U.S.
    military and the Federal Government as late as 1891 at Wounded
    Knee, that many of the codetalkers of your age, their
    grandfathers must have been involved in those last free days of
    the Lakota people. And to be able to rise above that to help
    defend a nation, it must have given them some thought about
    what they should do, when they would remember what their
    grandfathers had gone through, and their grandmothers too. So
    we are very proud of you and very proud that you are here, too.
        We will now move on to Mr. Roberts. Go ahead. Your complete
    testimony, if it is written, will be included in the record.
    Please proceed.

           STATEMENT OF ROBIN ROBERTS, MESKWAKI TRIBAL MEMBER

        Mr. Roberts. My name is Robin Roberts, Meskwaki Nation,
    Tama, IA, honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps.
        In 1941, 27 Meskwaki joined the Iowa State Guard. Out of
    those 27, 8 became Meskwaki codetalkers: Frank Sanache, Willard
    Sanache, Michael Wayne Obanisee, Judy Wayne Obanisee, Dewey
    Roberts, Dewey Young Bear, Edward Benson, and Melvin Twin.
        They did their training at Camp Dodge in Johnston, IA. From
    there, they went to more intense training in Louisiana. From
    there, they went to Northern Ireland briefly.
        In the meantime, during World War II, Stalin had opened the
    first front, and then he started telling America, we need a
    second door. So with General Eisenhower and the 34th, in
    November 1942 they invaded Algeria. From there, they fought
    their way to Northern Africa and through the deserts. And then
    in 1942, they went to Southern Italy, where they used naval
    gunfire, aero-gunfire, ground artillery, troops. And they went
    from Salerno to Naples fighting, in which the Meskwaki
    codetalkers were used quite a bit, where they saved a lot of
    lives.
        They themselves, they had to lead assaults carrying their
    backpacks and radios. There were fighting in the rain. They
    were braving the elements of the weather there. They fought in
    the mountains of Naples, where the Germans were dug in very
    heavily. There were a lot of casualties there. There, I believe
    in June 1944, the Allies had taken Rome back.
        So myself personally, I have been working on this for 15
    months. I agreed with a lot of people when they said there were
    18 tribes that were codetalkers, besides the Navajo. I believe
    as I have been working on this, is that not only am I working
    on the Meskwaki's getting these congressional gold medals and
    national recognition, but I am working on all tribes, because
    they all fought for this country. They were not drafted. They
    volunteered because of patriotism. This was not only these
    people's land. It was our land. These are our people, and they
    knew that. This was our homeland. We had our adopted homeland,
    too, the United States.
        So we necessarily did not have to go fight, but these brave
    people, they did. A lot of them came back, when they did come
    back they were scarred mentally and physically. Some never made
    it back. Some of the people forgot this was somebody's son,
    somebody's brother, somebody's husband, somebody's father. I
    think it is due time they are given their national recognition.
    In the U.S. Government, the people of this country, the people
    of this world should realize what these people have sacrificed
    not only for themselves, but for the people. So I would like to
    thank the panel for giving me this time to speak here.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Roberts appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you for being here today.
        President Steele and Mr. Roberts, you are accompanying Mr.
    Wolf Guts. Did you have something you would like to include in
    the record, too?

      STATEMENT OF JOHN YELLOW BIRD STEELE, PRESIDENT, PINE RIDGE
                           INDIAN RESERVATION

        Mr. Steele. Yes, Senator; my name is John Yellow Bird
    Steele. I am the elected president of the Pine Ridge Indian
    Reservation. I am a Vietnam veteran. The U.S. Government took
    me to the Presidio of Monterey and taught me to read, speak,
    and write the Vietnamese language. So I am sort of a halfway
    codetalker myself.
        I would like to thank General Brown, the historian for the
    VA. For your information, we have a Lakota-Lower Brule Sioux
    Tribe, married into the Oglala Sioux Tribe, but he was a
    codetalker also and his name is not included on there, and that
    is Willie Iron Elk.
        So I would like to have the committee to also include
    Willie Iron Elk as a Lakota codetalker. He was in World War I
    and World War II. So he is quite distinguished and we would
    like his name included.
        I would like to thank you, especially Senator Daschle and
    Senator Tim Johnson, for cosponsoring this, and yourself
    Senator Campbell, and really thank Senator Inhofe for
    introducing this. It is a great honor. The Lakota and Dakota
    peoples, we honor our warriors and our veterans. We thank you
    for honoring our warriors and veterans.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Steele appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Mr. Loudner, do you have something you would like to say,
    too?

       STATEMENT OF DONALD LOUDNER, NATIONAL COMMANDER, NATIONAL
                  AMERICAN INDIAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION

        Mr. Loudner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue that
    is very important to me. I am a Korean War veteran. On behalf
    of all American Indian codetalkers, I am honored to be here
    today.
        I yield my time to Clarence, but I just would like to make
    a couple of statements here. The American Indians have a long
    and proud history of service in the military. Statistically,
    the American Indians volunteer to serve their country at a
    higher percentage during all wars or conflicts than any other
    ethnic group. The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges
    that American Indians have the highest rate of military service
    among all ethnic groups in the Nation, and the Veterans
    Administration's statistics also show that the American Indian
    veteran is the least likely veteran to apply for benefits he or
    she has earned.
        In talking with Clarence, I accompanied him here yesterday
    on the plane and he brought up some interesting things that I
    would like to bring out that is not in my testimony that you
    have. We need to replace all the headstones of our other
    codetalkers that have passed on, with some type of an
    appropriate saying that they were the elite codetalkers.
        And award some type of a military medal. Clarence told me
    he only got four ribbons for all he had done in the 6 years, 6
    months and 4 days that he served during World War II. He said
    he would like to try and get some type of compensation if
    possible because he told me in his language that he is poor and
    he would like to try to get some type of compensation.
        Thank you for inviting me.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Loudner appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Thank you, President Steele, for mentioning that when the
    young warriors come home now, they are honored. It was not that
    way, listening to Mr. Loudner. I am also a Korean-vintage
    combat veteran from Korea. You look very young. You must take
    good care of your health. You are not getting wrinkled like us
    old guys from the Korean War.
        Mr. Loudner. I am 73 years old, sir. [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. Let me maybe just say that I think it is
    really a good trend that tribes are going back to the way of
    honoring the young men who came home. Let me ask Mr. Wolf Guts,
    perhaps, too. When you came home, Mr. Wolf Guts, was there any
    kind of recognition or honoring with your own tribe? Did they
    know where you were or where you went?
        Mr. Wolf Guts. I went into the service when I was 18 years
    and 5 months old. I volunteered. They considered me a
    volunteer, an enlistment or a volunteer. Some of my buddies
    were wounded in Hawaii.
        The Chairman. When you came back, were you told not to talk
    about where you had been or that you had been a codetalker?
        Mr. Wolf Guts. I was in high school. I was in school. That
    changed the next year, in 1942, I joined the Army. When the
    doctors passed me number one, right on through.
        The Chairman. Mr. Loudner, why don't you ask him what I
    asked?
        Mr. Loudner. Did they honor you when you came home?
        Mr. Wolf Guts. They wanted to honor us for being Lakota
    codetalkers, and my buddy said, I will buy the regalia and I
    will dance. I want you to sing that song that you sang in
    Hawaii. Okay, I will. And I did. And three of my buddies, two
    of my buddies and I, there were three of us. We had our own
    [INAUDIBLE]. We sang that song like in Hawaii. He danced, thank
    you, thank you. [INAUDIBLE] when he was in Hawaii. I heard that
    same song.
        The Chairman. The Lakota warrior song?
        Mr. Wolf Guts. No; it was not a warrior song. It was a
    regular Indian song, dancing song. I learned that from my
    elders. They were singers and I sang with them. That is where I
    learned how to sing. I did it. And when we came back, I did it.
    We did it. I remember all that. I remember.
        The Chairman. Well, if you still remember it, I used to
    sing Indian. I will come to South Dakota and you can teach me
    that song and we will sing it together, as old veterans.
        Mr. Wolf Guts. Yes; you know, we did not do it for
    ourselves. We did it for our people and the people of the
    United States of America. It was them, and for the people of
    the world, because if the Japanese ever took over the world, we
    will be dead. We did not want that. We gave all we had to do
    what we had to do.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Mr. Loudner.
        Mr. Loudner. I would just like to relate one thing that
    Clarence told me this morning when we were coming down here on
    the Metro. He said that before he goes home tomorrow morning,
    he would like to have someone take him down to the World War II
    memorial to show him that, because he said he might never, ever
    come back here.
        So he said he would like to go down here. He said he would
    like to see the President, but I said the President, according
    to the news, is in Pennsylvania or someplace. But maybe we
    could take him down to the memorial.
        The Chairman. The Committee can take care of the first part
    of the request. We will be happy to make the arrangements to
    take him if you will talk to Paul after we adjourn. The
    president, I know his schedule and I just have a hunch that
    might be a lot more difficult on short notice.
        Mr. Roberts, let me ask you just one last question. As I
    understand your testimony, there were eight Meskwaki
    codetalkers?
        Mr. Roberts. Yes.
        The Chairman. And the last one was Frank Sanache?
        Mr.Roberts.Yes; Frank Sanache.
        The Chairman. And he passed away just very recently. Did
    you know him personally?
        Mr. Roberts. No; I think Sam here, he probably knew him
    better than I did.
        The Chairman. He is on the next panel. Maybe I will ask him
    then. But any further information that you have on him, if you
    could provide it to the committee, I would appreciate it.
        Mr. Roberts. Okay. I have a packet here.
        The Chairman. If you have an extra copy, leave that with
    the committee if you would.
        We will go ahead now and move to the last panel, which will
    be Gregory Pyle, the chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma;
    Melvin Kerchee, Secretary-Treasurer, Veteran, from the Comanche
    Nation of Lawton, OK; and Samson Keahna from the Sac and Fox
    Tribe of Mississippi and Iowa, from Tama, IA.
        They will be accompanied by Wayne Pushetonequa, council
    member of the Sac and Fox; and Dr. William Meadows, Professor,
    Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Southwest Missouri
    State University in Springfield.
        We will start with Mr. Pyle. By the way, all of you, your
    complete written testimony will be included in the record. If
    you would like to abbreviate, that will be fine.
        Go ahead, Mr. Pyle. Thank you for being here.

    STATEMENT OF GREGORY E. PYLE, CHIEF, CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA

        Mr. Pyle. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Senators
    and friends. I will summarize our testimony, as a matter of
    time.
        As you know, the Choctaw Nation, of course, is out of
    Southeast Oklahoma. We are the third largest tribe in the
    Nation, and yet kind of a quiet tribe down in our area. What we
    have before us today is what has been talked about. I really
    appreciate the military coming in and explaining the situation.
    It is the first time we have had knowledge that they were doing
    this much work in the history area, so we appreciate them.
        Really, what happened is in 1914, as the war started out,
    the Allies had for 3 years lost hundreds of thousands of men.
    In 1917, the United States entered the war and in 1918, they
    had still only moved less than 50 miles in those 4 years.
        Someone heard the Native Americans speaking in their native
    language, which he could not understand. And if he could not
    understand it, he thought maybe the Germans wouldn't either. So
    they experimented by trying just two or three immediately. They
    did not have language in the Choctaw for artillery, so they
    would say big gunfire. And so they started out, and in a matter
    of a couple of days they realized this was really something
    because it was at the time not in written form.
        So they recruited all 18, putting them out there.
    Certainly, these 18 when they came back from World War I, were
    asked to keep this secret, which they did keep the secret,
    very, very effective. As you know, numerous tribes, I think
    some said 16 different tribes in World War II, participated in
    this, because they did keep the secret. But they also did not
    get the credit that we think they deserve.
        So we appreciate your having this hearing for us today. So
    with that, it was kind of the ace in the hole, where you have
    native people volunteering at a higher rate than any other
    ethnic people; many, many not citizens, and only after World
    War I were they considered citizens. So they have always fought
    very valiantly for their home territory.
        I will conclude with that. We really appreciate you, by the
    way, signing on as the 25th cosponsor today. I ask that other
    Senators would consider signing onto this. Thank you very much.
        The Chairman. My staff tells me I was already on it.
        Mr. Pyle. Okay, well, we appreciate that very much and I am
    open for any questions. Thank you.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Pyle appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Yes; it was interesting to me, some of the words that they
    used, because they had no language for artillery, submarines,
    tanks, things like that. I understand the Navajos, in fact, I
    do not know if it was submarines or tanks, they referred to
    them as turtles. I can imagine the confusion by Germans trying
    to listen in. There were a number of turtles moving southeast,
    or something. It was great.
        We will go now to Melvin Kerchee, please.
        Mr. Kerchee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, we
    have a prepared statement.
        The Chairman. That will be included in the record. How is
    Wally Coffee? Is he doing fine down there?
        Mr. Kerchee. Yes; he is.
        The Chairman. Tell him hello for me.
        Mr. Kerchee. I have a prepared statement on behalf of Mr.
    Charles Chibitty, our last living Comanche codetalker.
        The Chairman. He is still alive?
        Mr. Kerchee. Yes; he is, but his health is in a situation
    that he could not travel.
        The Chairman. I understand. His letter will be included in
    the record.
        Mr. Kerchee. For the record, the Choctaws are not quiet in
    Oklahoma.
        The Chairman. Now, no intertribal problems here.
    [Laughter.]
        Mr. Kerchee. But very wonderful.
        To the left, Mr. Chairman, you will see the Comanche
    codetalkers on the panel.
        The Chairman. Yes; I looked at that picture.
        Mr. Kerchee. I will read my statement.

      STATEMENT OF MELVIN KERCHEE, SECRETARY-TREASURER, COMANCHE
                                 NATION

        I am Melvin Kerchee, Secretary-Treasurer of the Comanche
    Nation. I have the honor this morning as the official
    representative of the government of the Comanche Nation to
    speak on behalf of Charles Chibitty, the last Comanche
    codetalker.
        It is a title he carries with deep pride and a certain
    degree of sadness. The pride he feels arises from the
    opportunity to serve his country, the United States of America,
    up the slopes of Utah Beach at Normandy and across the
    battlefields of Europe during World War II. It is the pride he
    feels because he and 13 other Comanche warriors were able to
    use their own Comanche language to devise an unbreakable code.
        It is a pride that all Indians feel because of the numbers
    of American Indians who enlisted in the military. The Saturday
    Evening Post editorial board suggested in 1941 that the draft
    would not be needed if other young men volunteered like the
    American Indian men. Historians say that the Indians enlisted
    in greater proportions to their numbers than all other people
    in the United States.
        The sadness he feels arises from the fact that recognition
    of the extraordinary service of the codetalkers and the work of
    the codetalkers in arms comes in the twilight of his years, and
    that his fellow codetalkers are not here to share his
    recognition. Gone are Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Forrest
    Kassanavoid, Willington Mihecoby, Perry Noyebad, Clifford
    Otitivo, Simmons Parker, Melvin Permansu, Dick Red Elk, Elgin
    Red Elk, Larry Saupitty, Morris Sunrise, and Willie Yackeschi.
        The story of the codetalkers are considered classified
    information, and it was not released until 1968. The story has
    leaked into history and out of our awareness, like a dripping
    faucet, drop by drop.
        The Navajo codetalkers are, of course, the most prominent
    in the public at large, but there has been little recognition
    in the United States of other tribes' military service as
    codetalkers. For the Comanche, it was initially the French
    Government who recognized their contribution when in 1989 it
    awarded the Choctaw and the Comanche chiefs the Chevalier of
    the National Order of Merit in recognition of the codetalkers'
    duties for their respective service in World War I and World
    War II. At that time, Forrest Kassanavoid and Roderick Red Elk
    were still with us.
        In 1995, Mr. Chibitty received the Knowlton Award created
    by the Military Intelligence Corps Association to recognize
    significant contributions to military intelligence efforts. The
    award is named in honor of Revolutionary War Army Lieutenant
    Colonel Charles Knowlton.
        Finally on November 30, 1999, Mr. Chibitty, then 78, was
    honored in Washington, DC at the Department of Defense as the
    last surviving World War II Army Comanche codetalker, during a
    ceremony in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. Sadly, however,
    there has never been formal recognition of the Comanche
    codetalkers by the U.S. Government.
        Two bills introduced in Congress, S. 540 and H.R. 1093, as
    the Code Talkers Recognition Act, focus on the contributions of
    American Indian soldiers during the Second World War. These
    bills and similar legislation, as well as this hearing, help
    focus attention on the critical strategic service provided by
    the codetalkers that is long overdue. I would urge Congress to
    act quickly so that these American Indian heroes, these United
    States soldiers can be honored properly.
        I thank you.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Kerchee appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Mr. Keahna.
        Mr. Keahna. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
        Before I begin my statement, I would like to thank the
    committee for giving us the opportunity to travel to
    Washington. I heard your remarks on the museum yesterday, last
    night on the radio as I was getting ready to go to sleep.
    Indeed, that was very moving.
        The Chairman. Thank you. I hope it was not the remarks that
    put you to sleep.
        Mr. Keahna. You got me. [Laughter.]

    STATEMENT OF SAMSON KEAHNA, VIETNAM VETERAN, SAC AND FOX TRIBE
     OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA ACCOMPANIED BY WAYNE PUSHETONEQUA,
      COUNCIL MEMBER, SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA

        My name is Samson Keahna. I am also a Vietnam veteran. I
    served there in 1966 and 1967. I have had a great opportunity
    to sit down with our last surviving codetalker, Mr. Sanache.
    That is that gentleman there in the picture on the right side
    over there, in front of the dais.
        When we did share some stories, he could be very comical
    when we were sitting there. He told a couple of stories about
    being in Tunisia at the time. I told him I had only made one
    trip to Italy in 1990. He said, well, there was no war going on
    there, and kind of grinned at me. But he could be a funny man
    when he wanted to be, but he really did not talk very much
    about his war experiences, as you know from other veterans. He
    had that post-traumatic stress and it really affects us.
        But on to my statement. On behalf of the Meskwaki Nation,
    thank you for the opportunity to appear today. It is an honor
    for me to speak in support of the Meskwaki codetalkers and
    those from other tribes who gave generously of their time and
    risked their lives on behalf of this country. The story of the
    codetalkers and the important role they played in our military
    is well documented, so I will be brief in my remarks.
        Until 1968, information related to the codetalkers'
    activities during both World War I and World War II remained
    classified by the Department of Defense. Bound by their honor
    and obligation, the codetalkers said nothing about the
    essential role they played on behalf of our country. Instead,
    they lived humbly among us as friends, brothers, uncles,
    fathers and grandfathers.
        In 2000, Congress passed legislation to award gold medals
    to 29 members of the Navajo Tribe who served as codetalkers.
    This measure was an excellent first step in recognizing men who
    served their country bravely. But it was only one step, and
    more work remains to be done to ensure that we honor all of
    those worthy individuals. We must provide codetalkers from the
    remaining 18 tribes the same recognition the Navajo Nation
    deserved.
        We must pass the Code Talkers Recognition Act now. The
    codetalkers deserve to be awarded for their bravery and for
    aiding their comrades to help gain in the victory over their
    adversaries, with countless forays against heavy odds. With
    their ingenuity, these brave warriors enabled our military and
    that of our allies to secure our Nation's freedom and security.
        In turn, our tribe has used those freedoms to cultivate our
    culture, our history, and above all, our unique Meskwaki
    language. As such, we continue to contribute to the rich
    diversity that befits our great Nation.
        Time is of the essence. Already, we have lost too many of
    these great warriors. Each of the men who served as a
    codetalker deserves to know that the nation they served honors
    their sacrifices. For those whom we have lost, we must
    demonstrate to their families that they have not been
    forgotten.
        I would hope that your committee will grant these brave
    warriors the commendations that they have deserved for more
    than 60 years. Sir, may the Great Spirit be with you in your
    decision. Thank you.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Keahna appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Dr. Meadows? Your complete written testimony will also be
    in the record if you would like to abbreviate.

       STATEMENT OF WILLIAM C. MEADOWS, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF
    SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY, SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

        Mr.Meadows. Thank you.
        I would like to thank Senator Tom Daschle, Chairman Ben
    Nighthorse Campbell, our university president, John Keiser at
    Southwest Missouri State University, for helping me to come and
    testify today. I would like to also mention the late Forrest
    Kassanavoid, who had it not been for him, one of the Comanche
    codetalkers who was responsible for my research product that
    led into this work that I am going to talk about.
        I am the author of the Comanche Code Talkers of World War
    II. My scope initially was to start out and focus on the
    Comanches, but I soon traced it back, as many of these other
    gentleman have explained, to the Choctaws in World War I. So my
    work turned also into researching and identifying not only as
    many tribes and as many units as I could that used the American
    codetalkers, but also trying to identify individuals in those
    units. So my work was around that.
        I was asked to talk a little bit about the sources that I
    used. My sources are extremely wide. For the Choctaw material,
    I worked extensively with Judy Allen through correspondence.
    Judy is the editor of the Choctaw tribal newspaper, Bishinik.
    She had been involved in researching the Choctaw codetalkers
    well before I became involved in this research, to award them
    by the French government and the State of Oklahoma in 1989. So
    with her, I worked a lot on the Choctaw information.
        The Comanche data I have were from the three surviving
    Comanche codetalkers who saw combat, and also another
    individual who went through the training program, but who was
    discharged prior to going overseas, as well as their actual
    training officer, who is now retired, Major General Hugh F.
    Foster.
        Other material as far as other groups came from various
    news reports, tribal newspapers, et cetera, of individuals who
    were helping me to identify both units and groups. Of the 18
    groups, for example in World War II, I have been able to come
    up with some type of, if you want to say provenance for 12 of
    the 15 groups in terms of what division, for some individuals
    even their company, regiment, battalion, so forth and so on.
        In World War I, we have only been able to pin down actually
    one of the six groups that was used, but two others we have
    good suspicions that they were probably in the same division,
    the 36th Infantry Division from Oklahoma.
        One thing I would like to point out from my research, is
    what I found from looking at the documentation and working with
    actual codetalkers, is that it is important to realize there
    are actually two distinct types of Native American codetalking.
    The initial formation of it was kind of a de facto accident,
    per se. Captain Horner overheard a number of Choctaws speaking
    around a camp and realized they had a common language that the
    Germans did not know. In time, they formed some actual code
    words and formed, if you will, a body of coded words to use.
        This continued in World War II with, for example, the
    Comanches were actively recruited in December 1940. The
    Meskwaki from Iowa were also actively recruited prior to World
    War II beginning, as were the Chippewa and Oneida from
    Michigan. The Navajo, of course, were recruited later, in 1942.
        The other groups that I have been able to locate to the
    best of my knowledge at this time were formed not specifically
    prior to the war, but simply after a group realized they had a
    number of similar tribal members speaking a common language in
    a military unit. So they were used or put together on kind of a
    de facto basis. The term I heard commonly used was use them if
    you have them, basically is what the word in the military was.
        So there are really two types of code. What I designate as
    type one, in other words, formally developed or specially coded
    vocabularies that are used within native languages. So it is a
    type of a double code. You have a foreign language, and then
    you have a code within the foreign language. Then type two,
    which many other groups was, was just the informal use of
    everyday language. To what degree some coded words may have
    been added into that is really hard to determine at this time,
    but quite possible.
        In terms of their circumstances in service, one of the
    things I would like to point out is that we know exactly that
    there were 420 Navajo codetalkers. We know that there were 17
    Comanches; that there were 19 Sac and Fox, of which eight
    served as codetalkers, et cetera. Just on a rough estimate, I
    have estimated that probably around 600, and this is only an
    estimate at this time. There could easily be more, but probably
    around 600 Native Americans served as actual Native American
    codetalkers in World War II.
        To me, one of the things that I stress in my research is to
    look at the willingness, the high percentage of voluntary
    enlistment, and to look at their willingness, because most of
    these men were actually young to middle to late-teenagers. They
    came straight out of Indian boarding schools or straight out of
    high schools in which they were actively inhibited and
    discouraged from speaking their traditional languages, and
    their willingness to hang onto that language, and then to turn
    around and use it for a system to help defend both their tribes
    and the United States is very gracious and everything.
        The thing about their languages is that in military coding
    at this time it sometimes could take up to an hour and in some
    cases hours to send a message, in which the message had to
    encoded, put into a coded machine or something, transmitted,
    and then uncoded or decoded. This could take several hours.
    With groups like the Comanches, like the Choctaws, like the
    Navajos, et cetera, it was simply two gentlemen speaking on a
    phone. They could turn around and immediately translate it back
    in here. So you had a matter of seconds, as opposed to a matter
    of minutes or potential hours. So the speed and the accuracy
    was the key advantage here.
        In my opinion, the contribution of the codetalkers in World
    War I and World War II should not be judged on their numbers,
    but by the unique historical circumstances of their bilingual
    and bi-cultural background and their willingness to use this in
    defense of their own people and the United States. We have some
    evidence that these were very effective.
        For example, a few days after D-Day when the Comanches
    landed on Utah Beach, a group of the 4th Division on a probing
    mission found themselves surrounded by superior German force.
    They retreated back into a wooded area and basically remained
    undetected, but realized they were completely surrounded by a
    larger force. They knew the minute they sent a message, it
    would be picked up and their location would be given away.
        So they needed that message to not be in English. They
    asked if any of the codetalkers were with them, and luckily
    Larry Saupitty was in that group. He was brought forward. He
    sent a message explaining their dire circumstances to which
    they were reinforced, and the entire group was saved from what
    would have been quickly being overrun.
        I am sorry. Elgin Red Elk is the gentleman who did that.
    Larry Saupitty was the orderly and communications operator for
    Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. He is the gentleman
    who landed in the first wave at D-Day with Roosevelt and
    reported the message in Comanche, basically ``safe landing,
    wrong beach, what now?'' So several of these gentleman were
    used in very active situations.
        In terms of recognition, the Comanches were honored by
    their individual families when they came home. Forrest
    Kassanavoid, for example, the minute he stepped off the train,
    his dad asked him if he brought anything back. He produced a
    Nazi flag. His aunt proceeded to lay it on the concrete
    sidewalk and they placed him on it, and have him dance a
    victory dance on the spot. These were common events in Oklahoma
    in 1946.
        The tribe did honor them in 1946 at a large pow-wow at
    Walters that eventually became what is now known as the
    Comanche Homecoming. From there, the recognition is virtually
    invisible until 1989, when again, the Oklahoma State government
    and the Government of France recognized them in a small
    ceremony at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
        From this standpoint, we begin to look at also some of the
    contributions. There are some really distinguished service from
    these individuals who are codetalkers. In World War I, Solomon
    Lewis won the Coeur d'Guerre from France and was awarded the
    silver star by General Pershing himself. Schlicht Billy, a
    Choctaw from Oklahoma in World War II is reported to have been
    the first American to break through the Siegfried Line. He
    captured a machine gun nest and was seriously wounded in doing
    this, but his penetration of this line allowed Major Jack
    Treadwell and other members of his unit, Choctaw members to
    penetrate and actually open up part of the Siegfried Line.
        In World War II, Willie Yacheschi, Robert Holder, Larry
    Saupitty, Forrest Kassanavoid, and Perry Noyabad, all
    Comanches, were all wounded in action and several of them
    received bronze stars. So we have a true record of quite a bit
    of service here.
        I strongly urge the committee to seek further research on
    this subject and to please pass any legislation that we could
    to bring these men contributions and honors. Some possibilities
    might include similar types of medals or certificates, as were
    given the Navajo; some sort of a plaque that could be put at
    the respective tribal offices for the tribal members; and also
    perhaps the consideration of a small monument or plaque or
    something here in the Nation's Capital to recognize and
    commemorate their service.
        Thank you very much for allowing me to testify.
        [Prepared statement of Mr. Meadows appears in appendix.]
        The Chairman. We are going to proceed on all fronts, you
    might say, as well as we can. Getting a plaque or a monument at
    the capitol takes years. In fact, I was involved in that as a
    member of Veterans Affairs when we wanted to upgrade the wall,
    for those of you who are of Vietnam vintage, because there were
    many American soldiers that died after they came back, but as a
    result of combat, from Agent Orange or things of that nature,
    all kinds of reasons. Their names were not included on the
    wall. So we had to get a special plaque put up right near the
    wall, as you probably know.
        I think we worked on it for 4 years. It took a long time to
    do it. There is a group that really controls what goes on the
    Mall. It is an appointed group here in Washington. They
    historically have opposed everything that goes on the Mall. I
    think they would still like to have it a swamp, rather than
    monuments to our great war heroes.
        So it is not easy to do. In fact, the World War II
    memorial, as you know, they opposed that, if you remember. We
    had to pass a special bill through the House and the Senate,
    and President Bush signed it, where we overruled that whole
    commission and said we were going to do it anyway. They were
    not thrilled with us.
        So that part might be difficult, but certainly the other
    things you have suggested to the committee, I know we will be
    very supportive of that.
        I do appreciate all of you being here today. Any further
    comments that you or anyone in the audience would have on this
    issue, we will keep the record open for 2 weeks. As you know,
    we adjourn in just a few short weeks, so we are going to try
    and proceed as well as we can before that time. So if you have
    additional comments, get them in as soon as you can.
        With that, thank you, and this committee is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m. the committee was adjourned, to
    reconvene at the call of the chair.]

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                                A P P E N D I X

                                  ----------

                  Additional Material Submitted for the Record

    =======================================================================

     Prepared Statement of Brigadier General [ret.] John S. Brown Chief of
                          Military History, U.S. Army

        Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the contributions of
    Native American code talkers in American military history. Native
    Americans have a long and proud tradition of military service to their
    several nations and to the United States of America. Our Army archives
    are replete with tales of their valor, and Army museums feature
    equipment they have used and medals they have won under trying
    circumstances. Among their unique contributions has been their service
    as code talkers to secure command and control on the battlefield.
        By the early years of the 20th century, command and control had
    become heavily dependent upon electrical communications. Vastly
    increased distances, dispersion, and spans of control required the use
    of what were then considered modern technologies, such as sound
    locators, buzzer-phones, and radios, with the land-line telephone
    emerging as the preferred and most reliable means of communication for
    ground combat during World War I. Unfortunately, land-lines could be
    tapped, and our German adversaries too often listened in. The 36th
    Division, for example, reported having circulated the coordinates of a
    supply dump, only to find that location inundated by enemy artillery
    fire within minutes. Other divisions similarly reported facilities or
    operations compromised and lives lost because of intercepted
    communications. Techniques of encryption that did exist proved too
    cumbersome to accommodate fluid tactics.
        That same 36th Division had within its ranks a company of American
    Indians who spoke a total of 26 native languages. Only four or five of
    those languages had been captured in writing. Someone suggested placing
    an American Indian soldier in each key tactical command post so that
    the division could rapidly communicat6 sensitive information in a
    language that the eavesdropping Germans could not possibly understand.
    Choctaw was selected as that language. The experiment worked so well
    that a regimental commander attributed the success of a delicate,
    nighttime tactical withdrawal--and again a major assault the following
    day--to the complete surprise achieved by using the Choctaw language to
    coordinate operations. The idea caught on. By the end of World War I,
    Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Osage, and Yankton soldiers were also
    serving as code talkers.
        When World War II began, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps drew upon
    the service of code talkers in a more organized manner. By then the
    preferred method of communication was increasingly the wireless radio;
    however, radio signals were even more vulnerable to interception than
    the telephone. In January 1941, the U.S. Army recruited Comanche code
    talkers to serve in its 4th Infantry Division, and a few months later
    the Marines began recruiting Navajo for the same purpose.
        In the European theater, the Army's Comanche codetalkers came
    ashore on D-Day. On Utah Beach, a Comanche codetalker [Larry Saupitty]
    sent Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr's critical message to reinforce
    an initial landing that ended up 2,000 yards away from its designated
    beaches. Saupitty's message was classic in its simplicity: ``We made
    good landing. We landed at the wrong place.'' As the Allied troops
    pushed out of the beachhead, codetalkers accompanied the leading
    regiments and provided communications throughout the breakout across
    France. Scattered throughout the division in two-man teams, codetalkers
    relayed vital messages that utterly precluded the enemy interceptions
    of them.
        In the Pacific, the Navajo codetalkers took part in every major
    Marine Corps operation and served in all six Marine divisions,
    transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native tongue.
    First used on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, Navajo techniques
    reduced the time used for encoding and decoding messages by one-half.
    Their greatest test was in early 1945, when three Marine divisions
    stormed Iwo Jima. In the first 2 days of fighting, 6 Navajo codetalkers
    worked around the clock, sending and receiving more than 800 messages
    without a single error. One Marine signal officer noted, ``Were it not
    for the Navajo, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.'' I highly
    recommend William C. Meadows' book, ``The Comanche Code Talkers of
    World War II'' as a discussion of the Army's codetalking contingent,
    and Doris A. Paul's, ``The Navajo Code Talkers'' as a discussion of the
    Marine's. I point out, too, that the Navajo were the subject of the
    recent movie ``Windtalkers.'' Perhaps less familiar to the public, but
    equally deserving of our praise, are the Assiniboin, Cherokee,
    Chippewa, Oneida, Choctaw, Hopi, Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee, Creek,
    Seminole, Pawnee, Sac, Fox, Lakota, and Dakota, who also served in our
    armed forces as code talkers. It is impossible to calculate how many
    operations were successful and how many lives were saved because of
    communications secured by the code talkers.
        It may well be that contemporary encryption technology has carried
    us beyond the era in which the services of the code talkers proved most
    useful. However, an underlying principle remains valid: That the
    diversity and richness of American culture renders it far more capable
    than it would otherwise be of coping with the challenges of an
    uncertain world. Also, the unique and extraordinary record of Native
    American service in the Armed Forces of the United States continues
    unbroken, as our accumulating record of current operations attests.
        Thank you.
        [Responses to questions follows:]
        Question 1: Is the Center for Military History looking into a
    project to further identify and develop the history of the American
    Indian codetalkers in the Army? If not, would this be a possibility?
        Answer: The Center of Military History is compiling a data base
    identifying the codetalkers and detailing their contributions. We are
    exploring ways to contact the various tribes to enlist their assistance
    in identifying those members who served as codetalkers, both formally
    and informally. The information gathered will be used in the next
    revision of our volume, Getting the Message Through: A Branch History
    of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, to expand its discussion of the use of
    Native American codetalkers in both World Wars I and II. This
    information will also be made available to other historians and
    historical researchers.
        Question: 2 From my understanding, the Army Signal Corps was the
    branch that had an American Indian Codetalkers program. What were the
    duties of the Army Signal Corps? Do you know of any of the other
    encryption technologies that were being utilized during World War I and
    World War II?
        Answer: Since its original organization in 1860, the Signal Corps
    has been the Army's communications branch. In short, its mission is to
    get the message through. With the introduction of longer range weapons
    during the 19th century, a commander could no longer control his troops
    by voice alone. From simple signaling techniques using flags and
    torches, the Corps' responsibilities have grown to encompass message
    transmission by telegraph, telephone, radio, computers, and satellites.
    During the 20th century, the introduction of radio and other broadcast
    media greatly increased the need for communications security. Elaborate
    codes and ciphers were developed to prevent the enemy from listening
    in. The Signal Intelligence Service, established in 1929 to control
    Army cryptology, ultimately became today's National Security Agency.
    During World War II the Army employed a number of sophisticated
    encryption methods and machines. The SIGSALY, for instance, masked
    encoded messages behind a fog of white noise. The Germans used Enigma.
    In field situations where technical means of security were not
    available or appropriate, Native American codetalkers were sometimes
    used, and proved very effective.
        Question 3: Do you know the numbers of American Indians who served
    in World War I and World War II? Do you know how many served as
    codetalkers?
        Answer: Approximately 12,000 Native Americans served in the armed
    forces during World War I. For World War II, the number climbed to over
    44,000. Dr. William C. Meadows, the author of The Comanche Code Talkers
    of World War II conducted exhaustive research to identify Native
    Americans who served both formally and informally as codetalkers. He
    successfully identified the 15 Choctaws who served as codetalkers in
    the 36th Division during World War I. Due to the lack of documentation,
    he could not determine how many members of other tribes may also have
    performed such duties, either formally or informally. Seventeen
    Comanches participated in the Signal Corps' formal code talking program
    in the 4th Infantry Division during World War II, and 420 Navajo served
    with the Marine Corps in the Pacific. According to Meadows, however,
    there were many more American Indians who used their native languages
    informally as codetalkers. Dr. Meadows concluded that members of at
    least 16 tribes acted as codetalkers in some capacity. As I stated in
    my testimony on September 22, the total number of formal and informal
    codetalkers within the Army could have been as high as 21,000, assuming
    that all bilingual American Indians used both their native language and
    English to facilitate communications at one time or another. For the
    armed forces as a whole, the number could have been as high as 30,000.
        Question 4: What do you think is a proper and appropriate
    recognition for these codetalkers? Do you know whether the Department
    of Defense supports a formal recognition for these Codetalkers?
        Answer: The Center of Military History, as an agent of DOD, has
    been empowered to collect data regarding the codetalkers and to support
    their recognition. A useful precedent has been set by the Navy with the
    recognition of the Navajo codetalkers. The original 29 codetalkers
    received Congressional gold medals; those who later qualified as
    codetalkers received silver medals. The Center believes that similar
    recognition for codetalkers from other tribes would be both proper and
    appropriate to honor their unique and extraordinary service.
    Unfortunately, there are no surviving Choctaw codetalkers and only one
    of the original 17 Comanche codetalkers, Charles Chibitty, is still
    living.
        Unfortunately, there was no military skill identifier for
    codetalkers. Therefore, I would recommend that recognition be limited
    to those individuals whose language skills can be reasonably documented
    or authenticated as having been used to ensure communications security
    in tactical situations. For those tribes that contributed codetalkers,
    Congress could present and furnish a plaque for display in tribal
    areas.
                                     ______

          Prepared Statement of Charles Chibitty, Comanche Code Talker

        I am the last surviving Comanche Code Talker.
        The Comanche Code Talkers were an elite group of young men who were
    fluent in the Comanche language and we used that knowledge, along with
    our U.S. Army Signal Corps training, to send critical messages that
    confused the enemy during World War II; 20 of us were originally
    recruited, 17 of us were trained in communications, and 14 were
    deployed to the European theater. We were assigned to the 4th Infantry
    Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and began our training in January
    1941. Lieutenant Hugh Frost took charge of our Comanche unit.
        Our unit landed on the Normandy shores on the first or second day
    after D-Day. After we hit Utah Beach, our first radio message was sent
    to another Code Talker on an incoming boat. Translated into English, it
    said: ``Five miles to the right of the designated area and 5 miles
    inland, the fighting is fierce and we need help.'' We were trying to
    let them know where we were so they would not lob any shells on us. I
    was with the 22d Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. We
    talked Comanche and sent messages when need be. It was quicker to use
    telephones and radios to send messages because Morse code had to be
    decoded and the Germans could decode them. We used telephones and
    radios to talk Comanche then wrote it in English and gave it to the
    commanding officer.
        Two Comanches were assigned to each of the 4th Infantry Division's
    three regiments. We sent coded messages from the front line to division
    headquarters, where other Comanches decoded the messages.
        An example of a message we sent to other units is this: ``A turtle
    is coming down the hedgerow. Get that stovepipe and shoot him.'' A
    turtle was a tank and a stovepipe was a bazooka. We couldn't say tank
    or bazooka in Comanche, so we had to substitute something else. A
    turtle has a hard shell, so it was a tank.
        There was no Comanche word for machine gun so we used ``sewing
    machine,'' because of the noise the sewing machine made when my mother
    was sewing. Hitler was ``posah-tai-vo,'' or ``crazy white man.''
        There are no words in Comanche to say bomber aircraft. When daddy
    and I went fishing when I was a boy and we cut a catfish open,
    sometimes it would be full of eggs. Well, that bomber aircraft was just
    like the catfish full of eggs, too, so we called it a pregnant
    airplane.
        We got so we could send any message, word for word, letter for
    letter. The Navajos did the same thing in the Pacific during World War
    II and the Choctaw used their language during World War I. There were
    other code talkers from other tribes, but if they didn't train like the
    Comanche and Navajos, how could they send a message like we did? If
    they made a slight mistake, instead of saving lives, it could have cost
    a lot of lives.
        I felt I was doing something that the military wanted us to do and
    we did to the best of our ability, not only to save lives, but to
    confuse the enemy by talking in the Comanche language. We felt we were
    doing something that could help win the war.
        When I attended Indian school in the 1920's, teachers got angry
    when we spoke Comanche. When we talked Comanche, we got punished. I
    told my cousin that they were trying to make little white boys out of
    us. After joining the Army it was the other way around. In school they
    tried to make us quit talking Comanche, and in the Army they wanted us
    to talk Comanche.
        When I talk about my Comanche comrades, I always wonder why it took
    so long for recognition of our service. They are not here to enjoy what
    I am getting after all these years. Yes, it's been a long, long time.
        The only thing I regret is my fellow codetalkers are not here. But
    I have a feeling those boys are here somewhere listening and looking
    down.
        My last fellow codetalker died in September 1998. All those other
    boys up there were welcoming him home. They were hugging and kissing
    him and, while they were doing that, they said, `Wait a minute, we've
    still got one more down there. When Charles gets up here, we're going
    to welcome him just like we're welcoming you.'
                                     ______

         Prepared Statement of Samson Keahna, Sac and Fox Tribe of the
                              Mississippi in Iowa

        Mr. Chairman:
        On behalf of the Meskwaki Nation, thank you for the opportunity to
    appear today. It is an honor for me to speak in support of the Meskwaki
    Code Talkers and those from other tribes, who gave generously of their
    time and risked their lives on behalf of this country. The story of the
    Code Talkers and the important role they played in our military is well
    documented so I will be brief in my remarks.
        Until 1968, information related to the Code Talkers activities
    during both World War I and World War II remained classified by the
    Department of Defense. Bound by their honor and obligation, the Code
    Talkers said nothing about the essential role they played on behalf of
    our country. Instead, they lived humbly among us as friends, brothers,
    uncles, fathers, and grandfathers.
        In 2000, Congress passed legislation to award gold medals to 29
    members of the Navajo Tribe who served as Code Talkers. This measure
    was an excellent first step in recognizing men who served their country
    bravely. But it was only one step and more work remains to be done to
    ensure that we honor all of these worthy individuals. We must provide
    Code Talkers from the remaining 18 tribes the same recognition the
    Navajo deserved. We must pass The Code Talkers Recognition Act now.
        The Code Talkers deserve to be awarded for their bravery, and for
    aiding their comrades to help gain in the victory over their
    adversaries, with countless forays against heavy odds. With their
    ingenuity, these Brave Warriors enabled our military and that of our
    allies to secure our Nation's freedom and security. In turn, our tribe
    has used those freedoms to cultivate our culture, our history, and
    above all, our unique Meskwaki Language. As such, we continue to
    contribute to the rich diversity that befits our great Nation.
        Time is of the essence. Already we have lost too many of these
    great warriors. Each of the men who served as a Code Talker deserves to
    know that the Nation they served honors their sacrifices. For those
    whom we have lost, we must demonstrate to their families that they have
    not been forgotten.
        I would hope that your committee will grant these Brave Warriors
    the commendations that they have deserved for more than 60+ years.
        May the Great Spirit be with you in your decision. Thank you.
                                     ______

      Prepared Statement of Melvin Kerchee, Secretary-Treasurer, Comanche
                                     Nation

        Chairman and honorable members of the committee, thank you for the
    opportunity to appear before you today. I am Melvin Kerchee, Jr.,
    Secretary-Treasurer of the Comanche Nation. I have the honor this
    morning, as the official representative of the government of the
    Comanche Nation, to accompany Charles Chibitty, the last of the
    Comanche Code Talkers. It is a title he carries with deep pride and a
    certain degree of sadness. The pride he feels arises from the
    opportunity to serve his country, the United States of America, up the
    slopes of Utah Beach at Normandy and across the battlefields of Europe,
    during World War II. It is a pride he feels because he and 13 other
    Comanche warriors were able to use their own Comanche language to
    devise an unbreakable code. It is a pride that all Indians feel because
    of the numbers of American Indians who enlisted in the military. The
    Saturday Evening Post editorial board suggested in 1941 that the draft
    would not be needed if other young man volunteered like American Indian
    men. Historians say that Indians enlisted in greater proportions to
    their numbers than all other people in the United States.
        The sadness he feels arises from the fact that recognition of the
    extraordinary service of the Code Talkers and the work of his comrades
    in arms comes in the twilight of his years and that his fellow Code
    Talkers are not here to share this recognition. Gone are:
        Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Forrest Kassanovoid, Willington
    Mihecoby, Perry Noyebad, Clifford Otitivo, Simmons Parker, Melvin
    Permansu, Dick Red Elk, Elgin Red Elk, Larry Saupitty, Morris Sunrise,
    and Willie Yackeschi.
        The story of the Code Talkers was considered classified information
    and not released until 1968. The story has leaked into history and our
    awareness like a dripping faucet, drop by drop. The Navajo Code Talkers
    are of course the most prominent in the public at large, but there has
    been little recognition in the United States of other tribes' military
    service as Code Talkers.
        For the Comanche, it was initially the French Government who
    recognized their contribution when, in 1989, it awarded the Choctaw and
    Comanche chiefs the Chevalier de L'Ordre National du Merit (Chevalier
    of the National Order of Merit) in recognition of the code talker
    duties for their respective service in World War I and World War II. At
    that time Forrest Kassanavoid and Roderick Red Elk were still with us.
        In 1995, Mr. Chibitty received the Knowlton Award, created by the
    Military Intelligence Corps Association to recognize significant
    contributions to military intelligence efforts. The award is named in
    honor of Revolutionary War Army Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton.
        Finally, on Nov. 30, 1999, Mr. Chibitty, then 78, was honored in
    Washington, DC at the Department of Defense, as the last surviving
    World War II Army Comanche ``Code Talker'' during a ceremony in the
    Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. Sadly, however, there has never been formal
    recognition of the Comanche Code Talkers by the U.S. Government.
        Two bills introduced in Congress, S. 540 and H.R. 1093, as the
    ``Code Talkers Recognition Act,'' focus on the contribution of American
    Indian soldiers during the Second World War. These bills or similar
    legislation, as well as this hearing, help focus attention on the
    critical strategic service provided by the Code Talkers that is long
    overdue. I would urge Congress to act quickly so that these American
    Indian warriors, these United States soldiers can be honored properly.
    Thank you.
                                     ______

     Statement of Don Loudner, National Commander, American Indian Veterans

        Mr. Chairman and members of the committee:
        Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue that is
    very important to me--appropriate recognition for all American Indian
    Code Talkers. I am honored to be here.
        American Indians have a long and proud history of service in the
    military. Statistically, American Indians volunteer to serve their
    country at a higher percentage during all wars or conflicts than any
    other ethic group.
        In fact, American Indians fought for the United States of America
    before they were recognized as citizens of their own country.
        The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that American
    Indians have the highest rate of military service among all ethnic
    groups in the Nation, and the VA's statistics also show that the
    American Indian veteran is the least likely veteran to apply for the
    benefits he or she has earned.
        The American Indian Veteran has been forgotten or put on the back
    burner for far too long.
        During World War I and World War II, American Indian veterans from
    at least 17 Indian Nations served the armed forces of the United States
    in a vital and unique capacity, by using their native languages to foil
    enemy communications. They became known as Code Talkers from the use of
    their languages to transmit messages in a form the enemy could not
    decipher.
        Many of these veterans worked 24 hours around the clock in
    headphones when the action was the heaviest, without rest or sleep.
    Their work saved the lives of countless other Americans and Allied
    Forces. These Code Talkers deserve their own pages in the national
    memory of the great world wars.
        But I fear many Code Talkers could be forgotten. One tribe, the
    Navajo, has had its Code Talkers honored with medals from the U.S.
    Congress. The Comanche Code Talkers have a fine book written about
    them. But military records and other sources indicate that military
    Code Talkers came from many other tribes and spoke many other
    languages.
        The first official use of an American Indian language--based on
    code by the U.S. military--was in 1918, toward the end of World War I.
        Convinced that their communications lines were tapped, Captain E.W.
    Homer selected 14 Choctaws to transmit messages.
        In his report, the commanding officer, Col. A.W. Block, said, ``The
    enemy's complete surprise is evidence that he could not decipher the
    messages. The results were gratifying.'' Following that successful
    experiment, other Indians in the Expeditionary Force--Cheyenne,
    Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, and Sioux were called on to use their
    languages for field communications.
        In addition, to the fine service of the Navajo, 17 other tribes are
    mentioned as having Code Talkers during World War II:
        Choctaw, Comanche, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Chippewa, Creek, Hopi,
    Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee-Seminole, Osage, Oneida, Pawnee, Pima-
    Papago, Sauk and Fox, Sioux-(Dakota, Lakota, Nakota-Dialects), and
    Winnebago
        Mr. Chairman, we must act on two fronts: First, we must correct our
    Nation's military history, to ensure that the service and sacrifice of
    Code Talkers from all tribes is remembered; and second, our Nation must
    find an appropriate way to honor all Code Talkers.
        To properly honor the Code Talkers, we should have a public
    monument in our Nation's capital. I want to make sure that my
    grandchildren--and their countrymen--can see a permanent and prominent
    symbol. A symbol of a time when American Indian languages became a
    powerful weapon in the fight for freedom. My view is that the perfect
    location for such a monument would be the grounds of the new National
    Museum of the American Indian.
        I commend the Senate for honoring the Sioux Code Talkers in 1995.
    In the 104th Congress, the Senate approved S. Res. 116 on May 8, 1995,
    introduced by Senator Daschle, Senator Pressler, Senator Inouye, and
    Senator McCain.
        The Code Talkers from South Dakota were also honored in the 77th
    Legislature of the State of South Dakota, House Commemoration No. 1026.
    The South Dakota Legislature recognized the following Sioux Code
    Talkers for their immeasurable contribution to their Nation in a time
    of great need:
        Edmund St. John from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Phillip ``Stoney''
    LaBlanc from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Eddie Eagle Boy from the
    Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Guy Rondell from the Sisseton-Whapeton
    Sioux Tribe, John Bear King from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Walter
    C. John from the Santee Sioux Tribe, Iver Crow Eagle from the Rosebud
    Sioux Tribe, Simon Broken Leg from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Charles
    Whitepipe from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Baptiste Pumpkinseed from the
    Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Clarence Wolf Guts from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

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