Private First Class Nettles was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on November 26, 1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His remains were recovered on November 19, 1999 and identified on May 11, 2006. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.