Andrew Perry

Pvt. Andrew Perry – the Telephone Warrior

Andrew was born in 1920 into a loving family and the Choctaw Indian Tribe. He had 4 sisters: Julia, Ruth, Wilma, Caroline and 1 Brother Leo – with whom he was very close.
Andrew, was one of 7,500 American Indians who served during WWII. Being of Choctaw heritage, his language skills were of distinct interest to the U.S .Army. Andrew would become a Code Talkers, or ‘Telephone Warrior.” In World War I, the German forces proved to not only speak excellent English but a very adept at breaking American military codes. Many Native American languages have never been written down; this was a perfect opportunity to use the Choctaw language in place of regular US military code. The Germans were completely confused by the Indian language and gained no benefit whatsoever from their wiretaps. WWII was no different; Andrew was a radio operator and used his native Choctaw language to pass coded messages for the American Army. By the time Andrew landed in France on D-Day, he was on his 4th landing: North Africa, followed by Sicily, then Italy and then Normandy. On August 15, he, along with the rest of the 45th Division, landed on beaches near to Sainte Maxime. They met very little opposition. However on August 20, luck was not on his side when his unit encountered a German Tank Division. During the tough battle, Andrew lost his life, along with four of his friends.