Medford Lakes Military Family Join Andy Kim At State Of The Union

MEDFORD LAKES, NJ — A mother and daughter from South Jersey who lost two members of their immediate family in separate military training accidents will be in attendance at Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address.

Melissa and Gianna DiMona, of Medford Lakes, will be the guests of Rep. Andy Kim (D-3), the congressman announced on Monday.

“Melissa and Gianna have sacrificed for our nation in ways that many of us can never fully comprehend,” Kim said. “Nothing we can do can ease their pain, but our community and our nation must do everything we possibly can to honor them and other American families who know the true meaning of service and sacrifice. I invited Melissa and Gianna as a small, but hopefully meaningful, way to say thank you.”

Melissa’s son, U.S. Army Spc. Nicholas DiMona III, died last March in a training accident in Alaska while assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

She learned the news 15 years after her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas DiMona II, died in a military training accident in Georgia in 2004. Read more here: Medford Lakes Man, Dad Die In Army Training Exercises 15 Years Apart

Nicholas DiMona III joined the army in July 2017 and trained at Fort Benning, Georgia before being transferred to Alaska a year later, officials said at the time of his death. His awards included the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the parachutist badge.

He graduated from Shawnee High School, according to the Courier Post. He was a lifeguard at YMCA of the Pines camps in Medford. He went into the army because he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

Nicholas DiMona II was originally from Barrington. He enlisted in the army in 1990, trained in South Carolina and served in New Mexico, Germany and Kentucky, according to his NJ Run for the Fallen profile.

His awards included the Army Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Aviation Badge, the Parachutist Badge, and the Army Aviator Badge.

He and Melissa welcomed their son into the world in 1999, and their daughter, Gianna, was born in 2002.

President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union Address to a joint seesion of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.