James Edwards, Choctaw Code Talker

Code Talker James Edwards, 142nd Infantry, was born October 16, 1898 at Glover, Oklahoma. A member of the choctaw language "relay team" for messages and helped with the code words used in transmissions. He attended Armstrong Academy in Caddo, Oklahoma and the Folsom Methodist Training School in Smithville, Oklahoma. Known for his laughter and joking with buddy Ben Carterby, Edwards was one of the first to transmit messages in Choctaw. He was in the actual combat zone during the war in 1918. World War II, he tried to enlist again, "maybe the German forces still can't talk Choctaw". Edwards worked for the BIA and served the Choctaw people as pastor of the Indian Methodist Church.

He died on October 13, 1962. A special Ceremony Commemorating his life was held at James Folsom Cemetery in Whitesboro, Oklahoma, April 20, 2004.

• Recipient of Presidential Citation: son James M. Edwards, Jr. Other members included in the Ceremony were Rev. Bertram Bobb, Chaplain for the Choctaw Nation, Evegeline Bobb, Wilson, Founder of the Choctaw Code Talkers Association.