Corporal Tobias William Frazier, A Soldier's Story
A Soldier's Story: Corporal Tobias William Frazier
Tobias William Frazier was born on August 7, 1892, in Sulphur, Oklahoma, a region deeply shaped by Native history and resilience. A member of the Choctaw Nation, Frazier came of age in a community that valued discipline, education, and shared responsibility.
As a young man, Frazier attended Armstrong Academy, an important Choctaw boarding school, where he excelled academically and athletically. He played football for the school and graduated in 1917, just as the United States was entering World War I and calling on young men across the nation to serve.
Frazier enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 36th Infantry Division, a unit largely composed of men from Texas and Oklahoma. During the war, Allied forces faced a persistent and deadly problem: enemy interception of radio and telephone communications, which allowed German forces to anticipate troop movements and counter Allied attacks.
In response, Corporal Frazier and other Choctaw soldiers were asked to use their native language to transmit battlefield messages. The Choctaw language was unknown to German intelligence and unwritten at the time, making it an ideal means of secure communication. These men, now recognized as the Choctaw Code Talkers, relayed orders rapidly and accurately under combat conditions, frustrating enemy listeners and restoring Allied operational secrecy.
Their contribution proved decisive during operations against the German defensive system known as the Hindenburg Line. With secure communications restored, Allied forces were able to coordinate movements more effectively and press the advance. Though their work occurred out of sight and under constant danger, the impact of the Choctaw Code Talkers altered the tempo of the battlefield and contributed meaningfully to Allied success.
After the war, Corporal Tobias William Frazier returned to Oklahoma, resuming civilian life away from public recognition. Like many veterans of World War I, particularly Native American soldiers, his service was largely overlooked for decades, despite its significance to military history.
Corporal Frazier died on December 27, 1975, and is buried at Rattan Cemetery in Rattan, Oklahoma. Today, his legacy stands as part of the foundation of American military cryptography and honors the Choctaw soldiers whose language, culture, and courage helped shape the outcome of a global war.
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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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