Funeral Procession Held Today For Medford Lakes, New Jersey Soldier Killed In Training Exercise In Alaska
MEDFORD LAKES, N.J. (CBS) - A funeral procession was held Wednesday afternoon for a Medford Lakes, New Jersey soldier who was killed during a live-fire training exercise in Alaska last month. Twenty-year-old Army Spc. Nicholas Peter DiMona III died March 30 after he was shot during the early-morning drill at the Donnelly Training area, near Fort Greely.
The procession began around 12:30 p.m. and shut down a stretch of northbound I-295 for a short period of time.
DiMona's body will arrive at the Philadelphia International Airport and will make the journey along I-295 to the Bradley Funeral Home in Marlton, New Jersey.
Fire departments draped large American flags over freeway overpasses along the stretch of road between exits 28 and 36.
DiMona, who joined the Army in July 2017, was an infantryman assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. He had received the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the parachutist badge.
"Nick was an outstanding paratrooper with an infectious personality and an uncanny desire to excel no matter the challenge," Col. Jason Jones, brigade commander, said in a statement. "He will be missed by the entire Spartan Brigade. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family."
According to his Facebook page, he attended Shawnee High School in Medford and was a lifeguard at the YMCA.
His father, Nicholas P. DiMona II, also died during a military training exercise in 2004. He was performing a night practice in a helicopter that crashed into a thicket of trees near Fort Stewart in Georgia.
