Charles Chibitty
Charles Chibitty (November 20, 1921 – July 20, 2005) was a Comanche code talker who used his native language to relay messages for the Allies during World War II. Chibitty, and 16 other Comanches had been recruited by the U.S. military for this purpose since Comanche was a language that was entirely unkown to the Germans, who were unable to ever decipher it. (The Navajos performed a similar duty in the Pacific War.)
Chibitty was born on November 20, 1921, in a tent 16 miles west of Lawton, Oklahoma. He attended high school at the Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas and enlisted in the Army in 1941. He served in the Army's Fourth Signal Company in the Fourth Infantry Division.
Chibitty's work—and that of the other Comanches who served in Europe—was not recognized by the U.S. government until 1999, when he received the Knowlton Award from the Pentagon, which recognizes outstanding intelligence work. Unfortunately, by the time this recognition came around, Chibitty was the only surviving Comanche code talker.
In interviews with the media, he liked to name all of his Comanche colleagues so that they wouldn't be forgotten. They are: Larry Saupitty, Willie Yackeschi, Morris Sunrise, Perry Noyobad, Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Clifford Ototivo, Forrest Kassanavoid, Roderick Red Elk, Simmons Parker, Melvin Permansu, Wellington Mihecoby and Elgin Red Elk.
He died in July 2005 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.