New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) is mourning the loss of the first coronavirus-related military death of a National Guardsmen, Captain Douglas Linn Hickok.
On Monday night, Murphy and the National Guard took to Twitter with a statement about the National Guard captain and physician assistant’s death.
“I’m heartbroken by the loss of [New Jersey National Guard] Captain Douglas Linn Hickok to coronavirus,” Murphy tweeted. “He was a drilling guardsman and physician’s assistant, originally from Jackson. Our thoughts are with his wife, children, and their family.”
I’m heartbroken by the loss of @NJNationalGuard Captain Douglas Linn Hickok to coronavirus.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 30, 2020
He was a drilling guardsman and physician’s assistant, originally from Jackson.
Our thoughts are with his wife, children, and their family.
Shortly after Murphy’s tweet, the New Jersey National Guard also tweeted a brief statement.
“We are saddened by the loss of one of our NJ National Guard Citizen-Soldiers to the coronavirus,” the statement reads. “Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok was a drilling guardsman in Medical Command and a civilian physician assistant, originally from Jackson, NJ. Our thoughts are with his family.”
We are saddened by the loss of one of our NJ National Guard Citizen-Soldiers to the coronavirus. Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok was a drilling guardsman in Medical Command and a civilian physician assistant, originally from Jackson, NJ. Our thoughts are with his family.
— NJ National Guard (@NJNationalGuard) March 31, 2020
The U.S. Department of Defense also released an official statement. According the statement, Hickok had been hospitalized since March 21.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote:
“Today is a sad day for the Department of Defense as we have lost our first American service member – active, reserve or Guard – to Coronavirus. This is a stinging loss for our military community, and our condolences go out to his family, friends, civilian co-workers and the entire National Guard community. The news of this loss strengthens our resolve to work ever more closely with our interagency partners to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
New Jersey has topped 16,000 positive coronavirus cases and is now labeled a hotspot for the pandemic.
As of Tuesday morning, there were more than 164,000 positive coronavirus cases nationwide. Over 3,000 people have died due to complications from the coronavirus in the United States.