Sioux Code Talkers of World War II

Andrea M. Page

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781455622443
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Nordamerikanische Geschichte

A history of how seven Lakota Sioux aided the United States's fight against Japan and bring and end to the Second World War.

In World War II, code-making and code-breaking reached a feverish peak. The fabled Enigma Cipher had been broken, and all sides were looking for a secure, reliable means of communication. Many have heard of the role of the Navajo Code Talkers, but less well-known are the Sioux Code Talkers using the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota dialects.

Told by the great-niece of John Bear King, who served in the First Cavalry in the Pacific Theatre as a Sioux Code Talker, this comprehensively informative title explores not only the importance of the indigenous peoples to the war, but also their culture and values. The Sioux Code Talkers of World War II follows seven Sioux who put aside a long history of prejudice against their people and joined the fight against Japan. With a personal touch and a deft eye for engaging detail, author Andrea M. Page brings the Lakota story to life.

"The book is engaging from start to finish, with a well-written text that is enhanced by period photographs and reproductions of significant documents. VERDICT: A valuable work for teens studying Code Talkers and American Indian contributions to the U.S. victory in the Pacific theater." ? School Library Journal

Chapter 1

Connecting to the Past:
A Story of Home (1940s)

My grandparents all had the same advice when it came to living life.
They said, “Be quiet, watch, listen, and learn.”

—Joseph M. Marshall III (Returning to the Lakota Way, p. 196)

Children never forget their birthdays. You might think about a special birthday and remember the details clearly in your mind. Your milestone tenth birthday may have been filled with great celebration. If you’ve lived long enough, other dates are certain to be recalled in great detail also: September 11, 2001, November 22, 1963, or December 7, 1941.

However, these dates are not celebrations. Still, the historic events that occurred in the United States on those days will never be forgotten.

My mother remembers the details of her day-to-day life as a young girl in December 1941. At daybreak, she looked forward to her daily trip to the neighboring farm with her father to bring home two bottles of fresh milk. Her father would listen to the news on his pack battery radio before the trip. Then my mother took her place next to him on the wagon. She reminisced:

I looked forward to my morning ride on the horse and buggy to the nearby Merkel Farm. I rode on top and since it was wintertime, I would straighten a blanket over my legs. Then, I’d hear the snap of the reins to move our big Belgian work horses and we’d be off. The wind was so biting cold that even my thighs shivered underneath my blanket. All the while, I listened to [my father] talk in Lakota, our language, about the upcoming day. My parents were always thinking of the neighbors in Kenel, the nearest village to our home. Would they have enough food this winter? Who would come today to barter, or trade, for food? I’d picture the mountain of potatoes and huge piles of beets in our root cellar. We also had corn and carrots. This was all the food my brothers and I harvested in the fall. I was happy with my daily life.

She described her morning routine further:

The morning ride was pleasant. I could see the frozen plain as far as my eye could see. There were no trees or buildings blocking the view. Every once in a while, we’d see a rabbit pop up. I sat and listened to my dad speak about the neighbors, the weather and the news. He was friendly with most people around, so he stopped to talk with them, too. Riding with him to get the two bottles of milk was a way of life for us. By the time we got home, the cream separated and settled on the top. I’ll never forget how we kids fought over that cream!

One morning she stepped up to ride on top of the buggy and noticed that my grandfather was unusually quiet. That day was December 8, 1941.

The United States had avoided joining the war in Europe and the Pacific for as long as possible, but President Roosevelt’s radio broadcast that morning changed this. “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” the president began. During the broadcast, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and Germany, and the United States formally entered World War II. People can recall this date with ease; they can describe the speech and distinctly remember hearing the crackling broadcast like it happened yesterday.

My mother described it: “We heard President Roosevelt declare war. The day before, the Japanese had destroyed the American ships docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, or nearly all of them.” In addition, Zeroes, Japanese fighter planes, dropped bombs on the nearby airstrips, taking out many of the aircraft.

Soon after hearing the news on the radio, soldiers knew they would be fighting Japan and the other Axis Powers (Germany and Italy). Units like the First Cavalry Division loaded up supplies and were deployed overseas. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the commander in charge of the First Cavalry Division, went to the Pacific Theater and hatched a plan to take over each island on a path from the United States to Australia to Japan. Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, was the first stop on the way to seizing Japan.

Manus Island in the South Pacific (1944)

The men experience an amphibious landing: the naval ships anchor and the landing crafts take off for the beach. As with any amphibious assault, the navy prepares the beach for the incoming soldiers. To push the enemy back, far away from the shoreline, they bombard the beach with artillery and machine-gun fire ahead of the planned assault.

The First Cavalry Division troopers wait in the bay. Amphibious ships, namely Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) anchored near the enormous naval ships, provide support against the enemy poised to attack in the jungle. After hours of bullets whizzing over the cavalrymen’s heads and rocket launchers exploding on the beaches, the smaller Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs) zoom through the water, stopping abruptly when they hit the sandy coastline. Cavalrymen race to the beach, keeping their heads down. Surprisingly, on this first amphibious landing, they receive very little enemy fire. The naval support helps clear the way for a safe beach landing.

Then the cavalry soldiers, also known as troopers, receive orders to move inland. They climb around large craters on the beach and under broken coconut tree limbs snapped like toothpicks. The troopers make their way to the dense forest and establish a safe perimeter, secured by barbed wire fencing. The area outside of the fence is considered enemy territory. The goal is to take control of the island from the Japanese soldiers and hold on to the area at all costs.

Days later, a headquarters tent is set up within the perimeter. Inside, eighteen-year-old cavalry soldier John Bear King is responsible for interpreting coded messages by radio. He waits to hear from a fellow soldier who is scouting behind enemy lines. The message will be the most important one yet.

John Bear King is a young American soldier from South Dakota in the 302nd Reconnaissance Troop, attached to the First Cavalry Division. John’s job at Headquarters is to listen to and decode messages. In fact, there are only seven men in the whole First Cavalry Division who can communicate using the code. It’s up to them to send and translate the messages correctly. On another day, he might be out in the field, like his childhood friend Eddie Eagle Boy and his reconnaissance partner Philip “Stoney” LaBlanc are today. The duty requires the soldiers to enter enemy territory and gather information, so they take turns scouting on reconnaissance missions. Crossing the secure perimeter is a dangerous job.

In May of 1944, commanding officer Lt. Donald Walton interrogates a Japanese prisoner who had just been captured and orders troops to a village on Manus Island named Drabito, n...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedications
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Back cover