by Todd Dvorak

Tama, Iowa (AP)

Dewey Youngbear lied about his age when he joined the Army in 1941. He was captured by German soldiers a year later and spent the next three years of World War II in a prison camp in Poland.

He died in a Denver hospital shortly after the war, and until now, few knew of his behind-the-scene heroics as one of the war’s American Indian code talkers.

They do now.

Youngbear was one of six members of the Meskwaki Tribe honored with medals during mid Janaury by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

“I didn’t know until a few years ago what he did during the war,” said Marguerite Youngbear, who was an infant when her father left to fight overseas. “When I found out, I thought to myself, ‘wow,’ that’s amazing, because the job they did was of such importance. I’m just so proud of him.”

During the war, hundreds of American Indians from 18 tribes were dispatched beyond the front lines on 24-hour shifts to observe enemy positions and troop movements, then relay intelligence back to base using codes developed from their native language.

German intelligence officers were aware of the transmissions, but were never able to break the codes, Harkin said.

Eight Meskwakis – among 27 tribal members who enlisted in the war – were among those trained as code talkers and assigned missions in Algeria, Tunisia and later in Italy. None are living today.

“These were extremely dangerous missions they were sent on,” Harkin told more than 100 people attending the medal ceremony at the American Legion Post 73. “Our Army was successful in North Africa and beyond because of the heroism of the code talkers and the valuable information they sent back.”

Along with Dewey Youngbear, the others honored with medals and standing ovations include: Edward Benson, Dewey Roberts, Melvin Twin, Judie Carl Wayne and Mike Wayne.

The two other Meskwakis who served as code talkers include Wayne Sanache and his brother Frank, who died at age 86 in August.

The code talkers’ achievements went unnoticed for so long because their mission was top secret and remained classified until 1968. Of the 18 tribes who provided code talkers, the best known were from the Navajo, which contributed more than 350 code talkers. Some of their stories inspired the 2002 Hollywood movie Windtalkers.

In 2001, 29 original Navajo code talkers were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bush, while dozens of others were awarded Congressional Silver Medals.

“History has not been as complete as it ought to be,” said Harkin, who began working with tribal officials last year to honor the Meskwakis. “It’s also ironic since Meskwakis and other American Indian tribes at the time were being encouraged to abandon their native languages.”

Robert John Roberts, the son of Dewey Roberts, said his father, like the other Meskwaki code talkers, was humble about his war time deeds.

“It’s been a long time coming, but better late than never,” Roberts said.