Eldon Blackhawk
I did a
research of a young man who killed himself, his name is Eldon Blackhawk. I
chose to write about Eldon Blackhawk because he was too young to commit suicide
and his story brought my attention. I
found very little information about Eldon Blackhawk which made me more tempted
to find more information about him and his death. He was 22 years old and he
was in the military. After a long investigation of Eldon Blackhawk, I found
some information that related to him and also to his family. This investigation
made me so excited to know more and more, so I did more research on his life.
He was born in Idaho on July 3,1925 at Fort Hall. I found out in my research
that he was Native American because the name of the family Blackhawk is very
common for Native Americans. He was Christian because the religion of his
family is Christianity.
I was
searching for his family tree and I was looking forward to reading more
information about his family and his atmosphere. So I started searching through
his personal data in the U.S.
According to the United States Federal Census, Henry Blackhawk ( Eldon’s
father) registered in the census in 1930, who was born in Bingham, Idaho,
United States of America. It appeared on the census that he was a farmer at the
time working on own account, and he never attended school but he was able to
read and write English. He taught his children and sent them to school because
he wanted a better future for his children. He was 34 when he got married to
Eldon’s mother, Annie Blackhawk.
Annie was also born in Idaho. Before marriage, her maiden name was Annie Stone.
She was living on a farm with her husband. She registered for the Census when
she was 32. She never went to school at the time because women were not allowed
to get education and women were supposed to take care of their families;
However, she spoke English fluently and knew how to read and write.
Eldon
Blackhawk had 1 full blooded brother and 1 step brother. His brother, McMillan
Blackhawk, was also born in Idaho and is a couple years older than Eldon.
McMillian registered for the Census when he was 10 years old. He was attended
school and could also read and write. Wilford Tetor (Eldon’s stepbrother) was
also born in Idaho. According to the Federal Census, Eldon had a half brother
from his mother’s side. Like his brothers, he went to school and learned to
read and write.
Eldon was
dark and his eye color was black. He was 5’7 and weighed 134 pounds. Until he
turned 18, Eldon worked on the farm with his father. As soon as he turned 18,
he joined the military. He served during World War 2 with the army in the
European theatre of operations.
According to the US World War 2 Draft
Cards Young Men 1940-1947, Eldon registered on November 6, 1943. He was
enlisted on March 22, 1944 for the American Indian citizen. He was enlisted
until World War 2 was over or until the president pulled out all of the troops.
His military rank: private first class and headquarters, squadron 9th air force – World War 2. He was honorably
discharged in May, 1947.According to the Idaho Death Records 1890-1967
(certificate number 156213), Eldon was 22 when he died on December 27, 1947 at
approximately 6:30 pm at his home on the Fort hall reservation. Eldon’s death
was purportedly of a self-inflicted gun shot wound. He died in the same city he
was born in. His family was in town around the time of the incident, and found
him when they returned home. I believe he
committed suicide because of his
past events during war, and I also believe he was traumatized from all the
things Eldon experienced during war. While in war, Eldon lost 2 fingers, which
I believe was depressing for him especially at a young age. In my opinion, I believe that depression was
one of the causes of his suicide. On the other hand, I believe many people who
leave war change mentally because of the things they view in war. I read many
stories about soldier’s lives after war. Most soldiers have prescriptions to
continue with daily life because their
thoughts and dreams are mostly about the past war. Because of this reason, many
soldiers commit suicide or live on medications. Eldon’s funeral arrangements
were in charge of the Peck and Packham mortuary of Blackfoot. His funeral was
different because of his military status. His funeral was held at the Mission
cemetery in Idaho on a Wednesday at 2 in the afternoon. A lot of his family and
friends attended the funeral. According to the application of Headstone or
Marker, the Air Force required the bronze marker for his headstone. They
requested in 1950 after his death.
