Like their more well known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific theatre, Comanche code talkers played a valuable role in the European theatre during World War II. Using coded words from their native language (e.g. the word for turtle to mean tanks) which boarding schools had previously attempted to erase, Comanche code talkers were able to share secure messages.
After training at Fort Benning, Comanche code talkers were first deployed during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The first Comanche message sent from Utah Beach was “We made a good landing. We landed in the wrong place” as they were several miles from their planned target.
