A Soldier's Story: Private First Class Joseph Oklahombi
Charley Jones. The historian of the Choctaw nation tells us that Pushmataha, a Choctaw chief from the early 1800s, once predicted that the Choctaw war cry would be heard in a foreign land. WWI fulfilled Chief Pushmataha's prediction. Joseph Oklahombi, born May 1, 1895, enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 25, 1918. Remarkably, Private First Class Joseph Oklahombi (and other Choctaw tribal members) enlisted at all. Unfortunately, the United States government did not, at this time, recognize Native Americans as Citizens. Private First Class Joseph Oklahombi, with 19 other Choctaw tribal members, was the first "code talkers" for the U.S. Military and used the Choctaw language to confuse and stump the German army. The success of the Choctaw Code Talkers paved the way for the future use of Native American languages (the Navajo and Comanche) to confuse enemies. Private First Class Joseph Oklahombi is also considered to be Oklahoma's most decorated WWI soldier. Earning a ...