*Article from Stroll River Bottoms, May 2026*
Written By: Phil Kiser
Contemplating marriage in the late sixties, when the Army draft was in effect, I learned my draft number and began watching the number of young men being drafted from my birth county in Indiana. Draft notices were published in our small local newspaper. When my number was published, I enlisted for three years instead of the usual two-year draft. Enlisting allowed me to choose a service area as part of my MOS. Since I had completed Business College in Indianapolis, Indiana, I chose clerk/typist as my area of service in the U.S. Army.
My wife, Patti, and I were married over her spring break from Indiana University, where she was completing her junior year. We were married on March 26, 1996, honeymooned on the East Coast, and she dropped me at Ft Knox, Kentucky, for basic training one week later on April 4, 1966.
After basic training, I was sent to Ft Benning, Georgia, where I served as a clerk/typist and underwent combat training in preparation for Vietnam. While in Vietnam, I served as a finance clerk and driver for the commander of the 214th Aviation Battalion, stationed near Bien Hoa. After one year of service in Vietnam, I received orders (with my wife accompanying me) to Heilbronn, Germany, where I served in the 38th Section of the Finance Division.
After my service was completed, I received a “European Discharge” in May 1969, and we traveled throughout most of Europe until our money ran out. We were able to see many works of art and architecture, as well as the German and Monte Carlo Grand Prix Formula I Races. We made dear friends while in Heilbronn, Germany, especially those whom we met while attending the Heilbronn Servicemen’s Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where both my wife and I were baptized. We remained friends through the years with Branch President Phillip Jones and his wife, although both have now passed away. During COVID-19, one of the missionaries
who baptized us came with his wife for a visit (outside of course). Our most recent 2025 reunion was with the young RM (not so young now) who served with me and invited us to the Heilbronn Branch. There is also Robert Nealey, from Georgia, who became a good friend in Vietnam. His nickname was “Ma Nealey” because he tried to keep our tent/hooch on the straight and narrow path. He and I never left camp to go to town. I took advantage of the educational opportunities offered to me through my service and graduated from Louisiana State University with a five-year degree in Landscape Architecture.
The military was definitely influential in my life from basic training, to war zone, to European experience, to Church membership, to education. We feel our time in Europe, and my education, were payback and a blessing for serving that extra third year.
