Kenneth W. Nickel was born in 1922 in Guthrie County, Iowa. He was the son of Isaac William Nickel and Della Cena Williams Nickel. Cpl Kenneth W. Nickel enlisted at Camp Dodge Herrold, Iowa on 5 January 1943. On 18 April 1945, an attack on the Western section of Leipzig, Germany was planned with one platoon. After advancing 10 blocks, one platoon was divided into two sections so that two streets could be covered in the movement further into the city. No opposition of significance was encountered until the tanks approached a bridge across a canal when they encountered a large amount of small arms and panzerfaust fire. Their tank was hit by panzerfaust fire and destroyed with the loss of the entire crew. CPL Nickel is now buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.