Corporal Peter Maytubby, A Soldier's Story
Corporal Peter Maytubby, A Soldier's Story
Corporal Peter Maytubby was born on September 26, 1891, in Mill Creek, Oklahoma, within the Choctaw Nation.
When the United States entered World War I, he answered the call to serve and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Company E of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, part of the 36th Infantry Division, and deployed to France during the final months of the war.
By late 1918, the Allied forces faced a dangerous problem: German forces were successfully intercepting and deciphering American field communications. Movements, withdrawals, and attacks were being overheard through wiretaps, placing entire units at risk.
The solution came from an unexpected place.
Corporal Peter Maytubby was among a small group of Choctaw soldiers, nineteen in total, who were asked to transmit military communications in their native Choctaw language. The German military, skilled in intercepting coded transmissions, had no translators for this Indigenous language. Messages sent in Choctaw passed securely through enemy lines.
During operations in the Meuse-Argonne region, the Choctaw Code Talkers enabled the successful redeployment of two American companies without detection. Their linguistic skills prevented interception, confusion, and potential casualties.
This moment marked the first documented military use of Native American languages as battlefield code by the United States—a strategy later expanded during World War II with Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific.
After the war, Corporal Maytubby returned home to Oklahoma. Like so many veterans of his era, he returned to his rural farming community, carrying his service quietly. The recognition that would later come to Native American Code Talkers did not immediately follow the war. Their contribution remained largely unheralded for decades.
Corporal Peter Maytubby died on January 24, 1964. He is buried at Tishomingo Cemetery in Oklahoma.
His service stands at the beginning of a uniquely American form of military innovation—one rooted in Indigenous language, heritage, and loyalty to country.
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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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