Museum's Armistice Day talks honor Native American code talkers

To honor the memories of the veterans of World War I and the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the Museum of North Texas History will host a free program of two short talks about area soldiers from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the downtown museum on 720 Indiana.

Wichita County Archivist Bill Steward will talk about former Wichitan Lt. Alfred Pat Carrigan, the grandson of Judge Barwise. Carrigan was the first Wichitan to die in WWI for his heroics in no man’s land on Oct. 7, 1918, at St. Etienne, France. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.

The second talk will focus on U.S. Army Private Calvin Atchavit, a full-blood Comanche from Comanche Nation in Cotton County. It will be given by his nephew, 80-year-old-plus Wichitan Robert Atchavit, a 33 year veteran.

Calvin “Nahoto” Atchavit was born on June 20, 1893 in Cotton County near Randlett, west of Temple, on the bands of West Cache Creek. Calvin and Robert’s father were orphans, having been raised by two relatives, Robert said.  

Atchavit and four Comanches from Cotton County were drafted on May 1918, and served in Company A, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division, A.E.F.

When an officer heard them talk in Comanche, he had the idea for them to send messages about sensitive military information in their language over the landlines the enemy frequently had tapped into and knew their plans.

The five code talkers were the first of their kind in WWI, and that idea would further develop in WWII with numerous tribes becoming code talkers, including the famous Navajo code talkers in the Pacific.

Robert knew the families of the 4 other code talkers in WWI, and was also related to two Comanche code talkers, his brothers in law, during WWII. That said, he did not know about what Calvin or his brothers in law did until the 1980’s.  

Robert first met Calvin when he was a young boy, and he would go to stay with him. Calvin did not have children, and Robert was the only boy of 5 kids.

 “I remember going to visit Uncle Calvin,” he said. “We would go on hikes on West Cache Creek. I don’t remember too much: I was about 6 or 7. He passed away when I was 10 or 12. Uncle Calvin was partial to me because I was the only boy in the family.”

“The only thing I remembered was he walked with a walking stick, and his wound was in his hip.” Robert would later discover that his uncle sustained that wound while laying land wire and cutting enemy communications and clipping barbed wire in no mans land. He got separated from his group, got into a skirmish, was wounded and returned several days later with a prisoner.

For his heroics, Private Atchavit was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for actions on Sept. 12, 1918 at the Battle of Saint Mihiel near Fey-en-Haye, France.

“When I was a kid, he never talked about it.”

Private Atchavit also received a Purple Heart, and he was awarded the Belgian War Cross for service as Comanche Code Talker.

He was discharged on June 16, 1919, married Sara and later passed away on Oct. 9, 1943 at the age of 50. The two did not have children. Atchavit is buried in Highgate Cemetery, Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma.

It was not until the 1976 when the Comanche Nation Veterans Association was established and the group began to get the military records of Comanche veterans. “That’s when they found out about Calvin being a hero. They have developed a lot of history since then.”

Robert heard from the CNVA in 1985, and that’s when he found out about what his Uncle Calvin had done in the war. “I’m really proud of him,” he said.

Calvin was awarded the Numunu Comanche Code Talkers Congressional Gold Medal, and there was a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in Washington D.C. on November 20, 2013 where Robert attended and received a silver medal as Calvin’s surviving relative.   

Robert’s brother in laws included WWII Comanche Code Talkers, Private Edward Albert Nahquaddy Jr. and Private Elgin Red Oak Jr. He knew most of the families of the 17 Comanche code talkers in WWII.

“The code talkers are all gone, now,” he said. “The last one passed away about 5 years ago.” On October 15, 2018, there was a Memorial Day for Code Talkers in Walters, Oklahoma.  

A full-blooded Comanche, Robert Atchavit was a member of the U.S. Army, Texas Army National Guard and US Army Reserve and retired as a Master Sergeant. He was active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was born in Temple, Oklahoma and moved to Wichita Falls in 1955.