Grade 3: Social Studies Academic Standards

3.3.10 Describe the contributions of Oklahoma’s military personnel, including the Buffalo Soldiers, the code talkers, and the 45th Infantry.

Oklahoma History Center Education Resources

History Alive! Living History
World War II Nurse

Traveling Trunk
Oklahomans and the Vietnam War

E-Exhibits
The 45th Infantry Division
The USS Oklahoma
Oklahomans and the Vietnam War

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

Bruce A. Glasrud, "Buffalo Soldiers"
William C. Meadows, "Code Talkers"
Mike Gonzales, "Forty-fifth Infantry Division"
Kenny A. Franks, "Oklahoma National Guard"
Jon D. May, "Spanish-American War,"
Jim Bissett, "World War I"
Brad Agnew, "World War II"
Lance Janda, "Korean War"
Lance Janda, "Medal of Honor Recipients"
James L. Crowder, "Tinker Air Force Base"
Thomas L. Hedglen, "Vance Air Force Base"
Tom Holm, "Military Societies, American Indian"

Research Center Resources

Jimmie Lewis Franklin, The Blacks in Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980)
Charles L. Kenner, Buffalo Soldiers and Officers of the Ninth Cavalry, 1867–1898: Black & White Together (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, c1999)
William H. Leckie, The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Black Cavalry in the West. Rev. ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003)
Len C. Murray, Buffalo Soldiers: An Illustrated History of the Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry in the West (Oklahoma City: Len C. Murray, c1994)
Choctaw Code-Talkers in World War I / Sixth Grade Boys' Reading Project, Rattan Elementary School, 1997
Fred A. Daugherty, Oklahoma Citizen-soldier Organizations: Their Participation in the Wars of our Country (Oklahoma City: 45th Infantry Division Museum, 1991)
Harry W. Dobbyn, It was Worth It!: World War II with the Thunderbird Division (Tampa, Fla.: Free Press Pub. Co., 1976)

Audio/Visual
A Sense of Duty, 1961 (2010.108, Oklahoma Historical Society Film and Video Collection, OHS)
"Comanche Code Talkers Monument Dedication" (Chester R. Cowen Collection, OHS)
D-Day Twelve Years Later footage from Altus Air Force Base, c. 1956–57 (F2013.134, WKY-TV Film Collection, OHS)

Spanish American War

Interview with James Clark Nance, 1983/03/24 (H1983.069. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Roy Evans, 1983/08/29 (H1983.141. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)

World War I

Interview with Hugh Ross, 1988/03/22 (H1988.029. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with George Elmore, 1985/02/14 (H1985.034. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Charles Wesley and Olive Cole, 1985/09/03 (H1985.171. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Gray Leonard and Roy Rooker, 1982/11/04 (H1982.007. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)

World War II

Interview with Truman Smith, 1984/11/07 (H1984.148. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Kenneth, Kathleen, and Ozetta Peltier (H1983.139. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Barney Christy, 1983/03/03 and 1985/04/24 (H1983.040. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Stanley Cook, 1985/03/14 (H1985.070. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS) |
Interview with Silas Wolf, 1987/12/01 (H1987.273. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Joe Lawter, 1987/12/07 (H1987.276. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Bill Willett, 1976/11/18 (H1988.027. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Pendleton Woods, 1984/11/14 (H1984.156. Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)

Korean War

Interview with Walter Hammert, 1999/12/28 (H1999.163, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with James E. Alexander, 1999/11/10 (H1999.151, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Harold Mulhausen, 1999/11/02 (H1999.145, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Bill P. Forehand, 1988/02/02 (H1988.010, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)

Vietnam War

Interview with George Gerald Red Elk, 1988/06/21 (H1988.091, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Thomas Clift, 1987/11/24 (H1987.269, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with Joe Lee Todd, 1988/07/11 (H1988.101, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)
Interview with William H. Talley (H1988.124, Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, OHS)

Desert Storm

Joe L. Todd Collection, box 15, transcripts, Veterans Video Interview Project (OHS)

Online Primary Sources

"Embarkation of 45th Infantry Division, Newport News, Virginia, Prior To Sicilian Invasion," 06/05/1943
"Buffalo Soldier in Five Button Sack Coat, Sturgis, Dakota Territory," Library of Congress
"Head-and-shoulders portrait of an African American man in military uniform," Library of Congress
"Buffalo soldier, full-length portrait, standing, crossed rifles on kepi, ring on pinky finger," Library of Congress
"Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Europe," Library of Congress
"Troops of the 45th Infantry Division, aboard an LST during the closing days of the Sicilian campaign, get some sleep an hour before they make scheduled landings behind enemy lines," Library of Congress
"US Army M-1879 junior officer's dress coat worn by John Hanks Alexander," Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Additional Resources

Veterans History Project, Library of Congress
Trevor K. Plante, "Buffalo Soldiers and Black Infantrymen," National Archives

---

Back to Grade 3 Resource List