Captain J. Laverne Nicklas
Silver Star / Bronze Star
The following was provided by Carol Nicklas, Captain Nicklas’ daughter in June 2013:
Laverne was born Sept. 21, 1913 on the farm of his parents William ‘Will’ Henry Nicklas and Lillian Prudence ‘Pru’ Nicholson Nicklas. The farm was located in the Red Lake area between Elida, NM and Dora, NM in Roosevelt County.
He had two brothers, twins, Glenn and Craig born 2-1/2 years later on Feb. 2nd, 1916.
Laverne, known as Nick, attended school in Portales, transferred to Dora in 1927 and then on to Elida HS and graduated in 1931. He went to New Mexico A&M (now NM State U) in Las Cruces, NM in 1931. While at the University , Nick was a member of D.H., Phi Chi Psi, Intramural Council ’34, Ag Club, Student Commission ’37-’38, Lt. R.O.T.C., and was named ‘Fellow With the Best Line ’35. He withdrew from NM A&M in Nov of 1933 and was a Captain at the Mirage CCC Camp NE of Deming. In the fall of 1937, Nick re-enrolled and completed his BS degree in Agriculture in May of 1938.
While serving at the CCC Camp, he met Mary Josephine Schoepf from Deming (Luna County) and they were married June 26th, 1938. Nick was manager of a gas station while in Deming. Their first daughter, Carol Ann was born in March of 1940. The family moved to Clayton, NM (Union County) later in 1940, where their second daughter, Mary Margaret (Margo), was born March 31, 1941 and where Nick served with the Farm Security Administration.
Nick was called into active duty in December of ’41 and was first stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. Mary Jo and the girls returned to Deming and moved in with the Schoepf’s, her parents. When Nick was transferred to California, his family joined him there.
On his troops’ deployment to Europe April 13th, 1944, his family returned to Deming.
Nick was killed in Thierbach, Germany on Apr. 16, 1945, leading his troops into the town. He is buried in the Margratan Cemetery near Maastricht, Holland. His grave is Plot F Row 4 Grave 18.
Nick received the Bronze Star on Nov. 9, 1944 for his action August 18-20 in France. The Silver Star and Purple Heart were bestowed on him posthumously.
Nick is memorialized in the Memorial Tower at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, at the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC. and on a memorial plaque at Red Mountain Middle School in Deming.
Carol A. Nicklas June 13, 2013
We add the following:
Captain Nicklas was assigned to the 607th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The unit arrived in England on April 21, 1944 and on D+11, June 17, 1944, went ashore at Utah Beach. The unit’s companies were distributed among various Infantry Divisions to support their offensive operations throughout the campaigns across Normandy, the Ardennes, the Siegfried Line, the Kyll, the Moselle, Koblenz and crossing the Rhine on March 22, 1945. At that time Task Force Sundt was organized to provide a fast moving mechanized force to range deep into Germany. On March 27th the task force began their drive with Captain Nicklas serving as Commander of 2nd Company. On April 16th 1945, while advancing his troops into Thierbach he was felled by a snipers bullet. His unit withdrew and as soon as all US forces were clear commenced shelling the town into rubble and submission. A photo of burning Thierbach is captioned in the 607th history as a tribute to Captain Nicklas. Captain Laverne Nicklas was 31 years of age at the time of his death.