Another young father has lost his life in Afghanistan. Tonight we honor this man, US Army Sergeant Kenneth R. Nichols, Jr..
US Army Sergeant Kenneth R. Nichols, Jr..
Kenneth Nichols was known as "Bub" by his friends and family. In the year 2000, he graduated from Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School in east-central Illinois. Nichols was on the football team and a member of FFA while at the school.
Nichols served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. As a part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Carson, he was sent to Afghanistan. While there, he was promoted to Sergeant. The same day as the promotion, he was asked to join a platoon short on men, for a routine patrol. According to the KKTV News site:
A rocket-propelled grenade hit Nichols' convoy on December 1st. He had spoken with his wife on the phone right before his mission. "He had just got pinned to Sergeant, which was a very big deal to him. When he got pinned, they told him that he was going to go out with a platoon on a mission that night," says Lexy Nichols.
That night would be the last time she would hear her husband's voice. He died on that mission, leaving a 9-month-old little girl without a father. "She's never going to know him. It's funny... she acts a lot like him for not being around him," says a tearful Lexy.
27-year-old Army Sergeant Nichols was killed during an ambush in Afghanistan. He died when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Besides the baby, Nichols also has three older children. He was supposed to have come home on leave to celebrate the holidays with his family. Next month would have been the second wedding anniversary for "Bub" and his wife Alaxandrea, nicknamed "Lexy".
According to the News Gazette site:
"The great thing about him was that he was always happy with what he had," she said. "He never wondered about whats or ifs, and he never wished he had more in life."
Alaxandrea Nichols said her husband loved his family and spoke to her by telephone nearly every day.
"We would have been married for two years in January," she said. "I met him when he was on leave for R&R when he was serving in Iraq in 2006-2007. I immediately knew that he was special."
In addition to his wife, Sergeant Nichols is survived by two daughters, Bryleigh, 6, and Pailynn, 9 months; and two sons, Kenneth III, 4, and Branden, 3. The funeral arrangements have not been finalized, but a visitation is planned at Bub's old school, Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School, and then a service at Danville Sunset Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Danville, Illinois. The Patriot Guard Riders will attend the services for US Army Sergeant Kenneth R. Nichols Jr.
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