Charles Chibitty

Charles Joyce Chibitty (November 20, 1921 – July 20, 2005) was a Native American and United States Army code talker in World War II, who helped transmit coded messages in the Comanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ) language on the battlefield as a radio operator in the European Theater of the war.

In 2013, Native American Code Talkers of World War I and II, represented by 33 Native American tribes, received the Congressional Gold Medal from the President of the United States at the U.S. Capitol. The Comanche code talkers were credited with saving the lives of thousands of American and Allied personnel.

Biography Chibitty (front row, second from right) with fellow U.S. Army code talkers Chibitty was born in a small tent outside of Medicine Park, Oklahoma, a city located 14 miles north-west of Lawton. He attended Fort Sill Indian School as a child. While a high school student at the Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas, On January 18, 1944, the 4th Infantry Division shipped out of New York for England for more training and arrived January 26. In England, the division trained as the spearhead amphibious division for the invasion of Normandy.

Chibitty and 12 other Comanche code talkers from the 4th Signal Company were reassigned to be with the landing infantry regiments, division artillery, and division headquarters. The other code talker (Sgt. Morris Sunrise), was transferred to another division. The 13 Comanche code talkers in the 4th Division, including Cpl. (T/5) Chibitty, landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 ("D-Day"). Assigned to the 22nd Infantry Regiment, Pfc. Larry Saupitty.

In 1989, Chibitty and Comanche code talkers Roderick Red Elk and Forrest Kassanavoid were presented with the Chevalier of the Ordre National du Mérite, and named Knights of the National Order of Merit by the French government; died due to diabetes complications on July 20, 2005, at a hospital in Tulsa.

Other awards and honors

The Thomas Knowlton Award – Established in 1995, by the Military Intelligence Corps Association in support of the Military Intelligence Corps. Chibitty was officially awarded the "Knowlton 1776" silver medal with blue neck ribbon on November 22, 1999. Congressional Silver Medal – Native American Code Talkers. Native American Code Talkers from 25 (33 tribes are eligible) tribes who served in World War I and II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on November 20, 2013, at the U.S. Capitol. Each tribe received a gold medal representing their tribe ("Comanche Nation Code Talker" medal) and each code talker of the tribe or their next of kin received a Congressional silver duplicate medal. Seven more tribes/code talkers were to receive medals at a future date. Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame – Charles Chibitty, 2001, and 14 "Comanche Code Talkers" who served in the European Theater during World War II including Chibitty, 2011. Code Talker Hall, Comanche Code Talkers mural – Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 2015