This picture was taken by Tammy Griffin at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park while Nick Navetta and his wife Diana were honoring two of his Soldiers who were killed in action while serving in Iraq. Sergeant Rodney Alan Murray and Sergeant Arthur Stacey Mastrapa were killed on two separate incidents. Nick Navetta is listed as the Commander of the 317th Military Police Battalion. Nick expresses his deep condolences and prays for their families.
Nick and Diana have called Marion County their home for over 50 years. Their roots in Marion County are far reaching. Nick and his wife are part of many outreach programs they are proud to be a part of. They live by the same motto as one of the organizations they belong to, the Military Officer’s Association of America —“Never Stop Serving”. Colonel Navetta Nick served in Desert Shield/Desert Storm; Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia; multiple tours of Iraqi Freedom; and Enduring Freedom.
Nick has never stopped serving. On Veteran’s Day in 2009, Nick coordinated the SOCOM Parachute Team from MacDill Airforce Base to fly in and parachute into the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park, landing in the middle of the crowd. They were men who worked under Nick at SOCOM. Enthusiastically Nick states, “That’s what these guys do. They’re that good!” His last duty position was the Training Division Chief for all Special Operations Worldwide at the United States Special Operations Command, or SOCOM for short.
A little of Nick’s history: Nick began in ROTC at the University of Florida. After college, he joined the military as a Second Lieutenant. He travelled throughout the world and went to places I did not want to see. As the Senior Liaison Chief for Multi-National Corps-Irag, he served in the Bagdad International Zone where 28 friendly forces were killed within a three-month period. Nick and his guys traveled all over the Middle East and did a great job.
How did he meet his wife, Diana? Here is an interesting twist before his military career of 30 years:
My wife and I have lived in Dunnellon since about 1968 and remember shopping at a grocery store where Nick’s wife, Diana, worked as the Head Cashier. I remember her! I don’t remember seeing Nick, but I’m sure he was not far away. My wife and I shopped there often. It is said Nick looked for excuses to go there to shop and try to get a glimpse of her or get her attention. He asked one of the cashiers if Diana was single and here they are together 39 years later.
I find Nick to be one of the most upstanding people I know. I had met him several times, but one day Our Select Business Association of Ocala club was having a meeting and Nick sat down right next to us and we asked him to join us —so he joined the club and has been a real source of information.
Today, he serves on five different boards which include: the Military Officers Association; the Marion County Estate Planning Council, the Marion Cultural Alliance; the Marion County Continuity of Care Council; and the Camp Kiwanis Board of Trustees. Unpretentiously, Nick admits, “It’s kind of inbred in me to always find a way to give.”
