ROCHELLE — John Kisner of Rochelle served in the United States Army in the Vietnam War in The 196th Infantry Brigade. 

Kisner was drafted in 1967. He went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training, before going to Fort Polk in Louisiana for advanced individual training. From there, Kisner went to Oakland, California and shipped out to Vietnam, where he was for a year. 

Upon his return to the U.S., Kisner went to Fort Carson, Colorado for the rest of his service. He reached the rank of sergeant upon his discharge from the Army.

“I was 21 when I got drafted,” Kisner said, “It was 1967. I met a woman, and she and I decided to get married. On Dec. 2, I asked her to marry me. A week later, I got my notice to go into the service. We had to get married earlier than we planned. It threw a wrench into my marriage a bit. She was pregnant with my son. I never saw my son until six months after he was born. But until this day, he and I are very close, along with my daughter, too. Things still worked out with my draft notice and my service.”

Kisner, now 77, grew up in Rochelle and has lived here all his life with the exception of his time in the service and five years living in Arizona. In his civilian life, he worked at Caron Spinning, Swift, Del Monte and at Rochelle Foods locally before retirement. 

“At first, I didn't think my military service helped me with the rest of my life,” Kisner said. “But now I see that it has.”

Kisner deals with post-traumatic stress disorder and flashbacks from his time in Vietnam. He doesn’t often discuss his time there in detail. Dealing with his PTSD has become easier over the years due to a support system of family and friends. Along with his children, Kisner has seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. 

Kisner made good friends in Vietnam from across the U.S. that he kept in touch with after his service. The experience abroad gave him a new appreciation for home. 

“Going to a country like Vietnam was really exciting,” Kisner said. “You got to see how the people lived and compare it to how you live. You saw what they lived in. It was a lot different than what we have. We have nice houses a lot of the time. They don't. They lived mostly in shacks. It made me appreciate what I came home to. There wasn't running water or toilets.”

Around the time of his service and afterwards, Kisner saw America’s response to the Vietnam War and how that unrest resulted in how veterans of the war were treated. 

“It was terrible, the things we were called,” Kisner said. “It was a tough feeling. Now when you see people coming back from serving, they're well taken care of and well-liked. It was different then. I had a guy out in New Jersey that I served with. My son and I went to Missouri for a 196th light infantry reunion. My friend from New Jersey and I talked at that and he told me he delivered mail. He went to one lady's house to deliver mail and he told her he was in Vietnam. She asked him not to be the one to deliver her mail anymore.”

In the years since the Vietnam War, veterans of it have come to be more appreciated. Kisner takes pride in his service, and wears a Vietnam veteran hat and jacket often when he goes out.

“I've seen a lot of Vietnam veterans I know have people come up to them and say, 'Welcome home,'” Kisner said. “And I do the same thing. I was over in Dixon once and ran into somebody that served. I thanked him for his service. He saw my hat I had on. I always wear a Vietnam hat. He said, 'I see you were in the service, too. You had it rough. I have it rough too, but not as much as you did.' That made me feel happy. Times have changed. I can wear a hat and jacket now out in public that show where I served. I'm proud of what I did.”

Kisner is a lifetime member of Rochelle VFW Post 3878 and a member of Rochelle Moose Lodge 903. He got involved with the VFW shortly after his service. He enjoys spending time at both clubs. 

“I have a lot of respect for other veterans' service,” Kisner said. “I have people that go to our service clubs here in town that I consider to be like brothers. Especially those that were in Vietnam too. It's been good for me to meet veterans with similar experiences. And we don't really even talk about Vietnam. I don't like to talk about it. I'd really only tell my kids about it. I just talk about the rest of my life with other veterans. But it's nice to know we have the same experiences.”

Kisner thanked his support system for being there during his service and in the years that followed. His parents and three sisters supported him then, as his children and grandchildren do now. 

“When I was in Vietnam, every three months, we'd have a stand down party,” Kisner said. “We'd have a band there. We had some good captains. While I have a lot of hard memories from that time, there are some good ones.”

Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.