Born on October 19th, 1986, in Minneapolis and raised in Chisago City, Minnesota, Nicholas came into the world as his parents' "miracle child" after complications at birth. He graduated from Chisago Lakes High School in 2005, remembered as a quiet leader who excelled in football, baseball, and swimming while carrying academic honors alongside his athletics.

Nicholas entered the Navy in March 2007, completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, and graduated SEAL Qualification Training with Class 267, earning his Trident and assignment to SEAL Team Five on the West Coast. He later earned the Honor Man designation at Naval Special Warfare Lead Breacher and Sniper School, deployed to the Philippines and Yemen in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and then volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan.

When asked why he had become a Navy SEAL, Nicholas answered simply: "I do it for you." Those who knew him described a young man of deep Catholic faith, a great sense of humor, and unwavering devotion to his family, so much so that he carried tattoos symbolizing each of them. He loved art, poetry, and music, and held a particular fondness for William Ernest Henley's "Invictus." Those who worked with him said if he told you he was going to do something, he did it.

On August 6, 2011, Petty Officer Spehar was aboard the CH-47 Chinook helicopter callsign Extortion 17, part of a Naval Special Warfare quick reaction force responding to support U.S. Army Rangers engaged with insurgent forces in Wardak Province. When the helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, all 38 aboard were killed, the greatest single-incident loss of life in Naval Special Warfare history.

Petty Officer Second Class Nicholas P. Spehar was 24 years old, the youngest of the fallen aboard Extortion 17, and he had volunteered for the mission that took his life. His faith, his devotion to his family, and his answer, "I do it for you," remain his lasting legacy.