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Hubbard airman dies in fall in Italian mountains
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,” said Brig. Gen. Jon A. Norman, 31st Fighter Wing commander, in a news release. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones affected by this loss,” the general said of Nadeja, who joined the Air Force shortly after his high-school graduation.
“He just could put a smile on everybody’s face, and he truly had a heart as big as his body was,” said Donald Najeda. “He loved his family and friends with every bit of himself. He enjoyed life.
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.
He also participated in the Hubbard Little Eagles football and wrestling programs, his dad recalled, adding, “He had been on a wrestling mat since he was 3 years old.”
“He was probably one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever coached,” said Scott Lewis, Hubbard High wrestling coach, who was an assistant coach when Nadeja was on the team.
“His nickname was ‘Nightmare,’” said Lewis, who has been coaching wrestling for 20 years.
“He made the best out of every scenario, and he always used to say that there’s nothing that God put in his life that he couldn’t handle,” the airman’s brother, Anthony Nadeja of Hubbard, recalled.
He concluded: “He had a big heart. He always did for others more than he did for himself.”
Nadeja, who was hiking in mountains above his air base when he fell, was the second squadron member to die within the past 10 days, Stars and Stripes said. Staff Sgt. Heber N. Rosales, 27, of El Paso, Texas, a maintenance supervisor, died March 26 while being treated at the base hospital.