GM “Choc” Charleston is a former tank driver in the 739th Tank Battalion. He’s received recognition from past presidents and tribal leaders for his service in World War II. In December, the king and queen of Belgium will honor him during a Battle of the Bulge commemoration.
KOSU’s Sarah Liese (Twilla) sat down with the Army veteran and 100-year-old Choctaw elder to learn more about his memorable service and upcoming trip to meet with Belgium royalty.
TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Liese (Twilla), KOSU Indigenous Affairs Reporter: Would you like to introduce yourself in the Choctaw language?
GM “Choc” Charleston, World War II Veteran and Choctaw Elder: No, no, no. Because I can't do it well. If we said one word of Choctaw in school, Mrs. Hall, our teacher, would beat you with a rubber hose. I don't mean spank; I mean beat. She’d hit you on the head, shoulder, wherever, so you didn't speak Choctaw. We did at home, but they tried to make our language disappear in school. I lost a lot of my language. But when my wife and I married, I told her, ‘the first thing that's going to happen between you and I when we have our children, they're going to learn the Choctaw language.’ Now, all of my family can speak 10 times better Choctaw than me. Because I just insisted, my youngest grandson teaches Choctaw language down at Durant.
Liese: This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. What memories stick out when you reflect on your service and one of the last major German offensives of the war?
Charleston: Like all of the men that was in the Battle of the Bulge — you could ask 1,000 of them— and the first thing they'll tell you, it was cold. It set record cold during the month that we fought. It was below zero, and heavy snow. … Being in a tank, we could keep our feet dry. But the poor guys in the infantry that was outside walking, they would come and get on the back of our tanks… they could put their feet there over the exhaust and warm up their boots. So we'd let them get on back of our tank a lot. But that's the thing I remember more than anything. It was a horrible battle. So many got killed there, but the cold is a thing that just sticks in your memory.
Liese: You have an upcoming trip to meet the king and queen during a Battle of the Bulge commemoration. What are you going to say to them? Do you know?
Charleston: Halito (hello). Chim Achukma (How are you)? I'll speak to them in Choctaw (chuckles). No, I don't know what to expect. I've never met a king and a queen, but we'll get along. I understand that they are excited to meet American soldiers that fought in that war. They celebrate December with the Battle of the Bulge because their country was liberated, …and our battalion was there from start to finish. But the Belgian people, for 80 years, have celebrated every December that they were liberated from the Germans. So it's going to be exciting for not only me but my caretaker, Susan, that's going with me.
Liese: Why is it important for you to make that trip?
Charleston: Well, I had no idea that I'd ever do that, but such an honor to be invited to come and help celebrate with the Belgian people the Battle of the Bulge, which, was such an important thing. They've celebrated it every year for 80 years. And every five years, the king and queen comes out and participates in the parades and all the things and activities that they have. And so this happens to be the fifth year, so therefore we'll get to meet the king and queen. … And I know that there’s very few people that know why the Belgian people celebrate a parade that’s called Nuts.
In the worst part of the battle of the Bulge, the Germans were kicking us around pretty bad. We were really losing a lot of men, and the Germans thought they had complete control. And they did have us down pretty good. But the German General sent a letter, a note to our head general and told him that he thought that they should surrender. And our general sent a message back, one word: nuts. That one word spread through the Battle of the Bulge. I don't know how long after, but we did hear about it. We thought it was great because we didn't want to quit either; we didn't want to give up. Now, ever since that word, the Belgian people have just used that in some of their activities, and they have what they call a ‘Nuts parade,’ and they told me that I would be on the the second floor of a building, overlooking the people and throwing nuts to the people down below. I'm really looking forward to that because the older people like me that was in that battle, we admired the man for sending the word nuts back to the Germans, and we didn't give up. We hung in there, and we started getting help out of France and other other military people started coming in and helping us out. So we finally got the Germans out.
Liese: How did you end up in the Army?
Charleston: Well, I got a letter from a guy named Uncle Sam that asked me to come and join the Army, along with about 10 to 15 million other people. Anybody turned 18 went to the military. So, I went in when I was 18 and was shipped from Duncan, Oklahoma, to Fort Lewis, Washington. I had never been that far away from home, but that's where the 739 Tank Battalion was formed, even though we didn't have any tanks for about three months. They were building them as fast as they could, but they couldn't build them fast enough to get everybody's tanks immediately. But we got them about two months later when it was there.
Liese: Something else that was a big deal this year was celebrating 100 years of Native Americans having citizenship. I don't know if you can remember— you were (about) one-year-old— but what does it feel like to have lived through a time in history when Indigenous people in the US weren't guaranteed the same rights as their non-Indigenous counterparts?
Charleston: Well, I became a citizen of the United States when I was [almost] one year old in 1924. As early as we could remember things and understand, our families told us that we had not been citizens, even though the government would have us do things like everybody else. But we couldn't vote. …I was in school in 1929. At that age, most of the Choctaw families had told their young ones about being citizens because they were proud of it. They could, finally, become a citizens of the United States, even though all of the older men had fought in World War I, and they attributed victories in France at the latter part of the war to the code talkers. Well, the Choctaws, my tribe, were the code talkers. They were the first, and I knew about half of those men because they were the same age as my father.
Liese: What advice would you give to an Indigenous young person who wants to serve in the US armed forces but might be hesitant because of the violent and complicated past with tribal nations?
Charleston: Well, I don't have any advice for any of our Native people, any more than I would for the other folks because I think we all should serve our country. And this is not a country for one person. This should be a country for all people. I know we're going through a difficult time right now. There's people that don't think that others should come in, but they don't stop and realize where did they come from. The Native people here are the only people that are actually not immigrants or come from immigrants. They all did, but we're all one people now. And I think we all should be eager to serve our country if needed, and if they want to voluntarily be in the military for their profession. It's a very honorable profession.
Liese: What legacy do you hope to leave behind, and what do you hope people remember when they hear your name?
Charleston: Well, I don't really know how to express that. But, I would like for them to think that I tried to be nice to all people and have no prejudice against anyone. I've always tried to conduct myself in a manner that my family would be proud. And so far, I kind of feel like I have succeeded in the fact that when my 40 year old grandchildren would come in and hug me and kiss me on both cheeks and say they love me. That makes me feel like that I have been successful in my family, and that's most important to me.
Liese: I think the last thing is that I make sure I introduce you correctly. How do you want me to say [your name] GM Charleston? Or do you prefer Gilbert Mike or Choc?
Charleston: I prefer GM Choc Charleston. When I was born, Christmas Eve in 1923, we didn't have Christmas trees and things like we do nowadays. Where we lived, my father had leased a ranch, and he raised cattle and horses. We were about three miles from a country school, and they would take the [older children] in the wagon up to the schoolhouse and meet with other families that came to celebrate Christmas. They had a Christmas tree and decorated it at the school, and they would give out nuts and fruit to the children. Well, the man and his wife came to our house. The man, Mr. Davis, loaded wagon with all of our kids, which we had quite a number in our house and took them to the school, along with my father. And his wife was a midwife, and she was there with [my] mother when I was born. Well, about a week later, when he came to pick up his wife and take her home, he wanted to see the baby. My mother's telling me this story. [She] said he came in wanting to know where the baby was, and she said, he's in the dresser drawer. So he went over and looked at the dresser drawer and said, ‘Well, it looks like we've got another little Choc, meaning a Choctaw. And so that mother said, Oh, everybody laughed. They thought that was funny. And from that day to this day, I've been called Choc. That's been over 100 years. So my wife, I've never had her call me anything but Choc. She never, never did use any name but that.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
