Airman Nicholas Nadeja, 2011 Hubbard grad, dies in Italy

HUBBARD

Airman 1st Class Nicholas J. Nadeja, a 2011 Hubbard High School graduate, who died Friday in a fall while hiking in the Italian mountains, was remembered by his father as an ambitious young man who was proud to serve in the military.

“The military was very dear to his life,” said Donald Nadeja of Hubbard, the airman’s father.

Airman Nadeja, who had just turned 21, was assigned to the 31st Munitions Squadron at Aviano Air Base as a line delivery crew member, according to Saturday’s edition of Stars and Stripes.

“Airman 1st Class Nadeja was an outstanding airman and a valued member of our Aviano family,” Brig. Gen. Jon A. Norman, 31st Fighter Wing commander, said of Nadeja, who joined the Air Force shortly after his high school graduation.

Nicholas Nadeja’s goals in life were to travel more, help others and go to college to study criminal justice, his father recalled.

The airman had been a state-qualifying wrestler and a linebacker and fullback on the Hubbard High football team.

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