Nickel, Donald Edward
Army Private 1st class

Donald Edward Nickel, age 20, from Alameda County Oakland, California .

Parents: William Nickel

Service era: Korea
Schools: Creston High

Date of death: Wednesday, December 6, 1950
Death details: On June 23, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Cpl. Donald Edward Nickel, missing from the Korean War. Nickel entered the Army from California and served with Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. On Nov. 27, 1950, the 31st Regimental Combat Team, which comprised several units, including Nickel’s 57th Field Artillery Battalion, was tasked with replacing the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir perimeter. That night, Chinese Communist Forces launched a massive surprise attack against the thinly spread forces of the 31st RCT. Large-scale attacks continued through Dec. 1, when the RCT began their fighting withdrawal south to the town of Hagaru-ri at the base of the Chosin Reservoir. It was at some point during the battle around the Chosin Reservoir and subsequent withdrawal that Nickel was lost. On Dec. 6, 1950, he was listed as missing in action after the final stragglers arrived at Hagaru-ri and his battalion was able to compile an accurate list of its losses. The U.S. Army did not receive any information to indicate that he was ever held as a prisoner of war and, absent evidence of his survival, on Dec. 31, 1953, issued Nickel a presumptive finding of death. In July 2018 North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory there for identification. Based on the laboratory analysis and total circumstantial evidence, a set of remains from the boxes were found to be those of Nickel. He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Grand Rapids Press (1951)