Marked By a Comforting Rain, the Hero Campaign Comes to Stockton

A consistent rain fell across Southern New Jersey on Thursday, Nov. 17, but while most residents in Galloway Township and the surrounding area trudged through the miserable weather, eagerly anticipating a return to shelter and a change of socks, Bill and Muriel Elliott knew it meant one thing.

Their son was with them.

On what would have been John Elliott’s 34th birthday, his parents paid a visit to the to officially announce an alliance between the school and the Hero Campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of drunken driving tragedies through the promotion of the use of designated drivers.

“This is a great day for our two organizations as we join forces to end drunken driving tragedies throughout our state and the nation,” Stockton President Herman Saatkamp said. “We are proud of our association with the Hero Campaign and the Elliott family’s efforts to bring an end to drunken driving tragedies."

“We are serious about saving lives in our son’s memory,” said Bill Elliott, who, along with his wife, Muriel, co-chairs the Hero Campaign. “Together with Stockton, we believe we can make the use of designated drivers be as automatic as wearing a seat belt.”

The Hero Campaign has a presence in five states at this point, and Stockton is the first college in New Jersey in which the campaign is setting up offices, scheduled to open in the L-Wing of the school in January.

The Elliotts have a trip to Bergen County scheduled for next week in an effort to bring the campaign to North Jersey, where it is largely unknown.

The designation for Thursday to be the official announcement to coincide with John Elliott’s birthday was intentional, Saatkamp said.

“It really is a commemoration of John Elliott’s life, the way in which he lived and what his parents have done since his death,” Saatkamp said, adding that it has helped other people to save other people’s lives.

His parents believed that although he wasn’t with them physically, he was with them in spirit.

“When he was buried, it also rained,” Muriel Elliott said, adding that it also rained the day of his graduation both from high school and from the Naval Academy.

John Elliott couldn’t be with his parents physically for his 34th birthday because of the tragedy that took place on July 22, 2000.

It was on that night that John Elliott, an ensign in the Navy, was on his way to his home in New Jersey from Annapolis, MD, with his girlfriend when he was struck head-on by a car that swerved into his lane.

He and the driver of the other car were killed, and Elliott’s girlfriend, Kristen Hohenwarter, was seriously injured.

The driver of the other car had been arrested for drunken driving three hours earlier and released from prison after two hours. He resumed driving, and ultimately killed John Elliott.

His parents then started the Hero Campaign, which Bill Elliott said was inspired by his son’s positive attitude and leadership. John Elliott had been selected the Outstanding Hero of his senior class at the Naval Academy for his service as a human education resource officer and peer advocate for his fellow midshipmen.

“We had a walk recently, and one of John’s friends who is a Navy SEAL spoke and he said whenever I see John’s picture, I laugh because he made everybody laugh,” Bill Elliott said. “That’s why the Hero Campaign is so important to us because it’s a positive it’s a positive campaign that reflects his positive nature. He would’ve not wanted something that was overly serious even though the point of it is serious.”

Since the group was founded in 2000, the campaign has expanded from a local organization into a regional movement with designated driver activities on college campuses, in bars, taverns, professional baseball and football stadiums and on highway billboards. Municipal police departments, state police and county sheriff’s offices have adopted the campaign and display decals on their vehicles.

“We’ve seen it in the Hudson Tunnel going to New York,” Bill Elliott said. “We’ve seen it in Florida, we’ve seen it in Boston.”

“The North Pole,” Muriel Elliott added, saying that the Navy transported it there in a submarine.

“It’s very heartwarming for us. Obviously, it’s a labor of love,” Bill Elliott said.

And a labor the Elliotts believe they have not shouldered on their own. For them, the proof is in the rain.