Thomas Frederick Nickel was born on 18 July 1921 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on 3 February 1942 and reported to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on 5 February 1942 for boot camp training. Transferred to Marine Corps Base Quantico, on 23 March 1942, he was ordered overseas on 28 April 1942. Private Nickel was serving with the 1st Marine Raider Battalion when it landed at Tulagi, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942. That day, he worked his way forward under heavy machine gun fire and knocked out a Japanese position with hand grenades, enabling his squad to advance without further casualties. Mortally wounded in the attack, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.