Army Pvt. Marv Nissel is pictured during his military service between 1961 and 1963. Nissel was stationed near Dallas, Texas, during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later achieved the rank of E-4 before his honorable discharge.

NEW ULM — Marv Nissel, a New Ulm-area musician and Minnesota Music Hall of Fame inductee, served in the United States Army from 1961 to 1963.

He completed basic training at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We’d be up at five every morning. You’d make your bed tight enough to bounce a coin off it, then march for miles,” Nissel said. “At first I thought, ‘What did I get myself into?’ But you got used to it. It made a man out of you.”

During one early morning drill, a fellow recruit accidentally discharged his weapon inside the barracks. “One guy didn’t get control of his weapon, and it went off right through the ceiling — about four inches from my head,” Nissel said. “That could have been the end of me right there.”

After basic training, Nissel was assigned to an artillery and transport unit near Fort Hood, Texas. In October 1962, when the Cuban Missile Crisis began, his unit was deployed to Florida and then sent by Navy ship into the Caribbean, where they waited on standby.

Marv Nissel, concertina player and bandleader, is pictured at the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame banquet at Turner Hall in New Ulm in April 2025. He was honored for his lifelong contributions to Minnesota’s polka and old-time music.

“We were out there about two weeks, about 200 miles from Cuba,” Nissel said. “All the United States Army equipment and ships were out there, and they were all loaded with ammo. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

The soldiers received little information, but the tension was unmistakable. “If they wouldn’t have taken them out, all of those missiles would have been blowed out of there,” Nissel said. “It was tense. You could feel it in the air. We were all just waiting for the word to go.”

The standoff ended peacefully, but the memory stayed with him.

“That was probably the most dangerous time I’ve ever lived through,” Nissel said. “We were right there if anything would’ve happened.”

Following the crisis, Nissel returned to Fort Hood. It was there, in November 1963, that world events once again touched his life.

“On my birthday — November 22, 1963 — President Kennedy was shot,” Nissel said. “We were right there in Texas when it happened. I’ll never forget that day.”

During his time at Fort Hood, Nissel was chosen for a special honor when several generals from Germany visited the base. “About four generals came over from Germany, and I got chosen for one

Nissel said. ” here were four of us picked out of the whole group. It was quite an experience– to stand there, in unifomr and meet those men. It made me proud.”

Nissel achieved the rank of E-4 before his honorable discharge in December 1963. He returned home to Minnesota with a greater appreciation for discipline and service.

“It was quite an experience,” he said. “you learned to work with people, to take orders, to respect each other. And you learned that freed isn’t free.”

After coming home, Nissel bough his first Hengel concertina and got back to what he loved most–music.

“it felt good to play again,” Nissel said. “after being away, music felt even more meaningful.”

He joined several area bands, performing throughout Minnesota and neighboring states.

One of his standout memories came in 1968, when his group was invited to play for Vice President Hubert Humphrey at a campaign dance. “That was something special,” Nissel said. “It’s not every day you play for the vice president.”In 1964, he married his wife, Carol, and they began building a life centered on faith, family, and music. They raised two daughters, Lori and Jodi, on a 10-acre farmstead near St. George, where they eventually formed The Nissel Family Band.

“Music just ran in the family,” Carol said. “As the kids grew up, they joined right in — drums, concertina, saxophone — whatever was needed.”

The family performed across the Midwest, from small-town ballrooms to winter tours in Arizona and Texas.

“We’d pick the kids up from school on a Friday, head out for the weekend, and come back in time for classes Monday,” Carol said. “It was a lot of work, but we loved it.”

Today, Nissel’s musical legacy continues to be felt throughout the community. He was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2025, honored not only for his decades of performing, but for his role in preserving Minnesota’s polka and old-time sound.

For Nissel, the recognition comes with gratitude — for family, for music, and for his time in service.

“I enjoyed the Army,” Nissel said. “It wasn’t easy, but I learned a lot. And when I came home, I was thankful — thankful to be alive, thankful to play music, thankful for everything.”