Technical Sergeant Eldon Marshall Elliott

World War II US Army Air Force 26th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group Service Number: 6291049 Born: August 31, 1916, Idalia. Inducted: September 1939 Killed in action October 25, 1942 in South Pacific Theater Buried: Fairmount Cemetery, Denver

Son of Ralph and Martha Elliott of Idalia.

Denver Post - November 3, 1942

Coloradan Killed Fighting Japs

Eldon M. Elliott. A native of Idalia and later a resident of Denver, who was killed in action in the southwestern Pacific October 25. He was a bombardier with the rank of Technical Sergeant in the Army Air Forces.

Denver Technical Sergeant is Killed in Pacific Fighting

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Elliott of Idalia, in eastern Colorado, received word late Tuesday that their son, Eldon M. Elliott, 26, a Technical Sergeant in the Army Air Forces, has been killed in action in the southwestern Pacific Oct. 25. No details were given in the war department's telegram.

Sergeant Elliott was born and reared in Colorado and was a graduate of the Idalia high school. Prior to enlisting in the Air Forces in September 1939, he lived in Denver.

He was at Hickam field in Hawaii during the Jap raid Dec. 7, 1941. Qualifying as a bombardier, he was sent to the sector where he met his death.

Mrs. Walter Pugh of 1940 Broadway was informed of the sergeant's death by his parents.

Wray Rattler November 1942

Tech. Sgt. Eldon M. Elliott Killed in Action

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Elliott of Idalia received the sad news October 28 that their son Eldon had been killed in action. The following telegram was received from the War Department:

---

                                           Washington, DC
                                            October 28, 1942
 
 Ralph S. Elliott
 Idalia, Colorado
 
 The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret
 that your son Technical Sergeant Eldon M. Elliott was
 killed in action in defense of his country in South
 Pacific area on October 25.  Letter follows.

---

Tech. Sgt. Elliott entered the Army Air Corps Service in September 1939. In February of 1940 he was transferred to Honolulu. Just when he was moved from Honolulu is not known. He was 26 years of age and was not married.

And thus another brave man has given his life fighting for a cause which he knew was just. A young man, fired with the enthusiasm of youth and the ability to carry out an order to the letter, a leader among men, a soldier and a gentleman, has given his life. His rank indicates the aptitude with which he accomplished his various tasks, thereby gaining the respect and confidence of his superiors. We who are privileged to live salute you, Tech. Sgt. Elliott, and may we never forget our debt to you.

The Rattler extends deepest sympathy to the bereaved parents and other relatives.

Notes: On October 26, 1942, Eldon M. Elliott was buried in a military cemetery on Espirito Santo in the New Hebrides. In August 1945 the Espirito Santo cemetery was closed and he was reburied August 30, 1945 in the military cemetery on Guadalcanal. After the war Tech Sgt Elliott was returned to his family and on March 26, 1949, he was buried in the military section of Denver's Fairmount Cemetery.

FAMILY TREE - GENEALOGY.COM

Eldon was in the Air Force and was stationed at Hickam Field near Honolulu, Hawaii, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He escaped without injury but said his car, which was near the barracks in which they lived, was riddled with bullets. He later took intensive training as a bombadier. He was about to be married to a young lady named Ruby Graham, when he was called to go out on a flying mission. He did not return alive. He was killed in action on October 25, 1942 in the South Pacific at the age of 26. During the mission he was manning the forward guns on a B17 Flying Fortress when they met with a Japanese Zero. Their bullets crossed in the air. The Zero went down in a trail of smoke, but Eldon lost his life in shooting it down. No one else on the B17 was injured. He was first buried in New Zealand, but later, his folks had him brought back to U.S. soil and buried in Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

Rocky Mountain News 26 Mar 1949

Funeral Notices -

Tech. Sgt. Eldon M. Elliott, late of Idalia, Colo. Son of Mrs. and Mrs. Ralph S. Elliott; brother of Mrs. Mabel Westfall; Wilson, Clark, Virgil, Howard and Lloyd Elliott. Services Monday, 2:30 p.m., Hofmann's to Fairmount.

Quotation from Fortress Against The Sun- The B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific, by Gene Eric Salecker, Combined Publishing, Pennsylvania. Page 266:

(Relating the 1942 Battle for Guadalcanal)

. . . That night, October 24-25, the Japanese infantry renewed their attack on the Marine perimeter. Pressed to the breaking point, the Marines brought forward the Americal Division and managed to hold the line. Once again, at daybreak, the Japanese faded back into the jungle. Meanwhile, the Japanese sent a powerful naval task force out from their strong base at Truk Island. With five aircraft carriers and four battleships, this was the greatest task force yet assembled against the American forces in the Solomons, and was intended to attack any American naval vessels in the area and threaten the vital supply route to Guadalcanal.

Out on a routine search mission, 1st Lt. Mario Sesso (26th BS), B-17E (41-2409, Old Maid), happened across a portion of the task force off the northeast coast of Sewart Island on the morning of October 25. As he shadowed the group and radioed its position to Espiritu Santo, six Zeros attacked. Flying in and out of cloud cover, Sesso tried to evade the fighters while still keeping an eye on the enemy ships. Unfortunately, on one occasion when he was out of cover, a fighter fired a long burst into the nose of the Old Maid. At that same instant, bombardier T/Sgt. Eldon M. Elliott, flying on his first mission, fired his nose gun. The bullets from each plane passed each other in flight. The Zero exploded at the same time Sgt. Elliott keeled over with a bullet in his heart. For more than an hour Lt. Sesso remained over the enemy ships, darting in and out of the clouds, and radioing their position to base. Two more Zeros were damaged before Sesso finally broke away and headed for home. . . .

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