Born on January 29, 1948, in Alberton, Canada, Jamie, as he was known to his family and friends, was the son of John I. Nicholson, who had predeceased his son, and Cora N. Nicholson of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was the youngest son of a family of four brothers. Jamie enlisted in the US Marine Corps on September 26, 1967, in Manchester, NH, and arrived in Vietnam on April 11, 1968, where he was assigned for duty with Company G, BLT (Battalion Landing Team) 2/4, 9th MAB, FMFPAC.
On May 1, the Battalion participated in Operation NAPOLEON/SALINE within the Cua Viet River area complex in northern Quang Tri Province. At first light Company B, 1st Battalion, 3d Marines crossed the Song Bo Dieu and joined Company H of the 4th Marines moving towards Dai Do with Company F joining the sweep. The Marines were held up by the heavy enemy fire and a fixed-wing was called in with air strikes on the NVA until some of the heavy enemy firings subsided. At 0955 Hours, Company G, commanded by Capt. Jay Vargas loaded on Mike boats (LCM-8) with Tank support and moved to the area of contact, moving quickly to join in the battle for Dai Do. Battling the enemy through bunkers and trenches, Company G linked with Company B and was holding the village while still in heavy contact with the NVA forces that survived air strikes and artillery barrages by the Marines. The Marines managed to hold their ground until morning when they pushed through Dai Do toward their next objective. On May 2, facing an enemy that had consolidated their forces during the night and that began launching counter-attacks firing mortars, and fighting from spider holes as Marines tried to move forward, the fighting came down to in hand to hand combat in many cases until the enemy retreated by nightfall, the battle proved costly as many were killed or wounded in action with many hard days and battles ahead. One of the casualties was PFC Nicholson, who was killed in action as a result of a hostile mortar fire.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com