Corporal Solomon Bond Louis, A Soldier's Story
Corporal Solomon Bond Louis, A Soldier's Story
Corporal Solomon Bond Louis was born on April 22, 1899, in what was then Indian Territory, Bryan County, Oklahoma. He spent much of his early life at Armstrong Academy, a Choctaw boarding school and orphanage that educated Native American youth in the years before Oklahoma achieved statehood.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Louis was still underage. Like many young men eager to serve, he lied about his age to enlist alongside his friends. After training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he deployed to France with the 142nd Infantry Regiment, part of the 36th Infantry Division.
It was there that Corporal Louis became part of something extraordinary.
In October 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Allied forces faced a critical communications problem. German forces were intercepting and deciphering American field telephone messages, undermining operations and putting lives at risk. A small group of Choctaw soldiers, including Corporal Solomon Bond Louis, was tasked with transmitting messages in their native Choctaw language.
The results were immediate and decisive.
Within 24 hours, battlefield communications were secured. German intelligence could not understand or break the language. The use of Choctaw words for military terms, adapted when necessary to describe modern equipment, allowed American forces to coordinate effectively and regain tactical momentum.
These men became known as the original Code Talkers, laying the foundation for the more widely recognized Native American Code Talkers of World War II.
After the war, Corporal Louis returned home to Oklahoma. He lived a quiet life, working as a peanut farmer and carpenter. He also served his community as a preacher and as a Justice of the Peace—continuing a life of service long after the guns of Europe fell silent.
Corporal Solomon Bond Louis died on February 19, 1972, and is buried at Homer’s Chapel Cemetery in Boswell, Oklahoma.
For decades, the Choctaw Code Talkers received little recognition for their critical contribution to the war effort. Today, their story is increasingly preserved and honored, including through the Indigenous Narratives Collection’s comic series Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers, which highlights Louis and his fellow Choctaw soldiers.
Corporal Solomon Bond Louis represents something powerful: a Native son of Indian Territory who used his own language, once suppressed by federal policy, to help secure an American victory overseas.
That is patriotism layered with complexity. That is history worth remembering.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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