One day , by chance , an American officer with the 142nd Infantry in France overheard two Choctaws conversing in their native tongue . When Col . A . W . Bloor realized he couldn ’ t understand a single word they were saying , he had a “ light-bulb ” moment — if he couldn ’ t understand them , neither could the Germans . The Choctaw troops were keen to help and on Oct . 26 , 1918 , using the very first code talkers , Bloor ordered the secretive withdrawal of two companies of the 2nd Battalion from one location to another .
“ The enemy ’ s complete surprise is evidence that he could not decipher the messages ,” Bloor later wrote in a memo . A captured German officer confirmed this , saying : “[ We were ] completely confused by the Indian language and gained no benefit whatsoever [ from the wiretaps ].”
Though Native Americans had already been serving as runners and messengers , after the success of Bloor ’ s experiment , Choctaws were posted with each company to code talk . With the new secret weapon in place , it didn ’ t matter if the Germans overheard radio transmissions or tapped telephone lines — to them it was all gobbledygook . American strategy gained traction and on Nov . 11 , 1918 , the world ’ s first mega war ended with an American and Allied Powers victory over Germany and its Central Powers allies .
George Davenport
SEPTEMBER 2018 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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