A state interchange will soon honor a HERO.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Vince Polistina designating the interchange between State Highway Route 42 and Interstate Highway Route 295 as the “Ensign John R. Elliott Memorial Interchange” was unanimously approved by the state Senate on Monday.
“I’m proud that the Senate approved my legislation to honor the late U.S. Naval Academy graduate Ensign John R. Elliott, who tragically lost his life in a head-on collision with a drunk driver,” Polistina said in a release. “Ensign Elliot exemplified true leadership and served this country with honor and distinction. In recognition of his service, this bill would formally commemorate his legacy by naming this newly built interchange as the Ensign John R. Elliott Memorial Interchange.”
Elliot's death sparked his father to establish the Hero Campaign, a nonprofit organization that encourages appointing a designated driver.
“Our family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to Sen. Polistina for sponsoring this bill, which names the new exit connecting Interstate 295 and Route 42 in memory of our son,” said Bill Elliott, the campaign's founder.. “The Ensign John R. Elliott Memorial Interchange will represent more than a convenient new gateway to the Jersey shore. It also will save lives, and would have saved our son’s if it had been available the night he was killed by a drunken driver while traveling home for his mother’s birthday on an undivided highway in July 2000.”
Ensign John R. Elliott, United States Navy, (Nov. 17, 1977 – July 22, 2000) was named the Outstanding HERO of his graduating class at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis for his service as a human education resource officer in the academy’s Character Development Program.
