Talk:Donald Nichols (spy)

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A fact from Donald Nichols (spy) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 January 2016 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Sergeant Donald Nichols correctly forecast that the Korean War would start within a certain three-day period?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2016/January. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Donald Nichols (spy).

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This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Don Nichols

The article in the title covers the career of an auto racing team sponsor. As claimed at http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/cref-nicdon.html, this Don Nichols is also Donald Nichols, the spy. This unreliable source does mention Don Nichols' membership in his old military unit. However, a reliable source is needed to verify this; if it is true, an article merge is indicated.

Having done some sleuthing, I have discovered the following confusing info:

A photo comparison between this article and a photo in Apollo's Warriors is inconclusive to my eyes. Also, the military Nichols had the reputation of being sloppy in dress; pictures of the racing Nichols show him to be somewhat dapper, with a thinner face.

The military Nichols was born circa 1923, and died in Alabama in 1992. The racing Nichols was born in 1924, and lives in Salinas, CA.

The racing Nichols reputedly entered autodom in Japan in early '60s, about when the military one retired.

I am posting this in hopes that someone will prove/disprove the connection between these two.

Georgejdorner (talk) 18:44, 30 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It appears somebody with too little knowledge of Shadow & an over-active imagination is conflating the two...but that's only a guess. TREKphiler ^{any time you're ready, Uhura} 07:28, 1 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Spy versus spy?

Since Nichols was commander of an intelligence unit and not a covert operator, I suggest the page should be moved to Don Nichols (USAF officer). TREKphiler ^{any time you're ready, Uhura} 07:28, 1 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Rank?

There's no mention of his progression of rank, I notice. One moment, he's Sergeant Nichols, then "In 1953, Major Nichols...". Some casual reference to at least some of these promotions might be desirable... at the very least, the promotion from a Warrant Officer to Officer.

I do wish I had found this info, but alas....

Georgejdorner (talk) 19:31, 19 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Spoke Korean fluently?

How in the heck did he become fluent in Korean? An explanation of that would be nice.

So the sources say.Georgejdorner (talk) 16:48, 22 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Pakistan?

He seems to have managed to serve in Pakistan pre-Korea, which would be before the state existed. DOR (HK) (talk) 04:06, 21 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The new book coming out on Nichols should provide the missing information and will require a complete re-write of this article

Here is an excerpt from the book: How America’s Colonel Kurtz Beat Back North Korea: His code-breakers helped the U.S. turn back a North Korean invasion, but Donald Nichols would soon veer out of control, losing touch with morality, legality, and sanity.--Papahoth (talk) 05:50, 23 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That excerpt is very interesting.Georgejdorner (talk) 07:09, 29 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]