We Honor and Remember:

Senior Airman Elliott Goff
Hometown: River Edge, NJ.
Age: 27 years old.
Died: June 3, 2020.
Unit: USAF, 704 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC

“Every hero has a war story.”
This refrain had particular meaning for Elliott Goff: He was an active duty member of the Air Force, having spent most of 2019 deployed in Kuwait. The phrase was a rallying cry, a reminder of his own strength and ability to overcome any obstacle he faced—after all, that’s the mark of a hero.

To tell Elliott’s “war story,” certain notes bubble up time and again: his charm, his willingness to share his love, his infectious smile and his sense of humor, even when he was at his sickest. The phrase especially hit home throughout the past year, first as he battled leukemia, then when he overcame COVID-19 and again when the aggressive leukemia returned, eventually taking his life, but never compromising his spirit and will to fight.
For Cheryl, Elliott’s older sister by seven years, there are so many Elliott stories to tell. He was always quick with a joke: When he shot up more than 8 inches one summer, he grew out his red, curly hair because, to Elliott, one awkward turn deserved another and “what better excuse to have a ‘fro,’ as he called it,” Cheryl says.

Elliott loved playing video games and watching sports, especially his favorite professional hockey and football teams, and his staple cartoons. As Elliott got older, video games opened up doors for him, Cheryl says. Not only did it give him newfound confidence and an avenue into the world of sports, but also helped him stay connected to friends. “He had a best friend that he met in preschool, and even though David moved to South Carolina when the boys were 9, the online gaming world gave them a way to stay connected, even before social media was a real option,” Cheryl says.
Elliott was a devoted friend, brother and son. “He maintained his friendships and kept people that were close to him so close to the chest,” Cheryl says. “He had the same friend group for as long as I can remember.”

When Elliott was in technical school in Texas, his best friend since kindergarten, Derek, was having a birthday party and was really missing Elliott. But Derek understood that the military obligations had to take precedence. Elliott drove straight through the night from Friday into Saturday from Texas to New Jersey just to surprise Derek for his birthday. He had to turn around and leave again first thing Sunday morning to make it back in time to fly under the radar and not miss a day of training. But it didn’t stop Elliott from making sure he could be there for his friend. “There were no limits on what he would do for his friends and family, and without ever needing to be asked. It was the most special trait of his character and a memory I’ll always cherish,” Derek says.
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As someone who struggled with anxiety and depression in his youth, he understood what it felt like to be easily intimidated, but “he always loved the water,” Cheryl says. “He may have been nervous or timid in so many other areas of his life, but he would do a 30-foot jump into the pool at Mountain Creek. He always loved helping people, and in high school, he became a lifeguard in order to teach kids to swim so they could share that confidence and be guided by someone as patient, kind and understanding as Elliott. Lifeguarding took his love of the water and allowed him to do something with it.”

Elliott’s personality, including this care he had for others, drew much attention during his time at Hackensack University Medical Center. On December 27, 2019, he was diagnosed with leukemia while he was stationed in North Carolina. After six weeks of in-patient treatment at a nearby hospital, Elliott was declared in remission, and the military allowed him to transfer to New Jersey in order to prepare for a bone marrow transplant at John Theurer Cancer Center.

In March, while receiving outpatient treatment to maintain his remission status, Elliott came down with a fever, which is common during chemotherapy treatments, and was admitted to the hospital. While he was negative upon arrival, he tested positive for COVID-19 about a week after being admitted. In an effort to combat some of the more serious symptoms, he was put into a medically induced coma in order to intubate him and put him on a ventilator. The day after Elliott was put into a coma, his father passed away from complications of a stroke he had on March 13.

Because Elliott was sedated while in the ICU, then moved to the PICU, his doctors and nurses did not get a chance to get to know him before needing to do everything they could to save his life. “We spent a lot of time and energy and emotion treating Elliott while he was sedated,” says Rachel Lewis, M.D., pediatric critical care medicine specialist at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital who treated Elliott. “After he woke up, it was so nice to talk to him. Talking to his mom and sister became a part of my normal day, to go over what was happening. They were just so lovely, understanding and grateful that we were invested in him.”

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To continue to read the complete story, click here>>>  A different kind of War Story..

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