MONROE - Kim Hillenbrand was born in Monroe but moved away just as she was starting kindergarten.
Since then she's moved around the country, most recently with her husband of five years, Richard, and their four children. With Richard, an Apache helicopter maintenance mechanic in the U.S. Army, deployed to South Korea, Kim had a choice - join him in Asia or hunker down with the kids somewhere.
She chose to stay in the United States, and specifically, returned to Monroe last year.
"This is the first time I've ever lived anywhere other than a military base since 2012," Hillenbrand said, noting like herself, her parents grew up in Monroe, her grandparents continue to live in the city and her brother recently returned with his family.
"When my husband got orders to South Korea, it was a choice - to come and check out Monroe and come back to where I was born," Hillenbrand said.
By the time the two had begun dating, Richard was already well into his military career. He signed up in 1999 during peace time, went to basic training in 2000 and was immediately trained for his job as a helicopter mechanic. From there, Kim said Richard went to South Korea after Advanced Infantry Training and prepared to deploy to the Balkans, namely Bosnia-Herzegovina, to earn an experience uncommon among those around him.
"They were all excited, because in 2000 there were very few people with combat patches," Kim said. "And then 9/11 happened, and everybody went to Afghanistan and Iraq, and now everyone has combat patches."
Richard has been deployed six times. He's been with the 1st Cavalry Division and the 82nd and 101st Airborne units. He was part of the initial push into Iraq in 2003. Now he's serving under his fourth president.
Kim referenced the National Geographic movie "21 Days to Baghdad," which she said depicts an experience similar to Richard's with days of driving and attacks targeting the unit's vehicles. She described his movements from Iraq to Germany, then Korea, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Downrange, Richard worked on Apache helicopters and led the Downed Aircraft Recovery Team. The group leads missions to locate and assess crashed helicopters, ultimately making the decision whether it can be fixed where it fell or if it needs to be destroyed, all within a combat zone.
Important moments in their lives were marked by these deployments. Kim found out she was pregnant with their first child, Eva, while Richard was on the plane to Afghanistan.
"I had to wait for him to land in Afghanistan and find somewhere to grab a phone to call me," Kim said. "I was at work, in a cardiac ICU in Texas when he called me. I said, 'You're going to be a dad!' I couldn't help myself."
Nearly 8,000 miles apart, Richard's excitement was nearly palpable through the phone.
"He was screaming 'Woohoo!' and I could hear in the background, the others banging on the door of his phone booth saying 'Shut up, Sarge!' Kim said. "When he came back on a 14-day leave, I luckily went into labor and had Eva. Then he went back to Afghanistan 10 days later. That was hard."
The couple had the rest of their children in short order. Samuel was born in February 2014, but Kim's pregnancy was filled with medical problems and for a time she was wheelchair-bound.
"The health problems I had had, they told me I would be able to have more children," Kim said. "They needed to do some surgery, and so if we wanted to have more children, we'd need to do it right away, so we took them very seriously."
William was born in December 2014, less than 11 months after Sam.
"The IRS asked a few unique questions that year. They didn't believe us," Kim said with a laugh.
The couple's fourth and final child, Ignatius, was born in November 2016. Whenever Richard leaves on tour, Kim said she doesn't watch the news.
"In 2012 right after I had Eva, he was back in Afghanistan, and I happened to be watching the news and there was an attack on his base," Kim said, noting she was anxious for 24 hours until she received word Richard was safe.
The couple also lived through the Fort Hood shootings. Richard was there for both, and Kim for the second one in 2014.
"It was really, really disturbing," Kim said. "The threat seemed to be coming from our own people instead of from the outside."
The threat level on the base reached Delta, which means that only military and family personnel are allowed inside, and everyone entering gets checked at the gate.
Currently in South Korea where Richard is deployed, the threat level is on Bravo, the second-lowest of the four levels - despite the tensions between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and both South Korea and the United States.
"(Richard) says there's a pattern to it," Kim said. "He doesn't feel worried, which helps me stay calmer."
Back in Monroe, Kim and her children take part in the community, away from the stress of living on a military base. She plans to take part in the Monroe Theatre Guild production of "You Can't Take it with You" in March and serves on the Green County Family YMCA Board of Directors.
"People have allowed me to volunteer and to use my skills to benefit our community," Kim said. "Towns that surround military bases are not as friendly to the military as you might expect. In fact, some of them are very hostile. And living in a quiet community where there is a lot of respect for veterans and retirees is nice.
"I know that it's a microcosm and that towns like this are rare and that a lot of people who live here have lived here forever, but having moved around this country and lived in all different places, Monroe is a really great place to live," she added.
Richard has been in the military now for over 17 years, and Kim noted he plans on retiring at the 20-year mark.
"We hope to retire here in a couple of years," Kim said. "St. Victor's is a great school for our daughter and sons. I am really happy here, and I really appreciate it. Even if things go south and (the federal government is) shut down again and our military isn't paid, I know that it'll be OK. There's resources that people have pointed out to me, which are great. And it's a community of people that care."
When the government faced a shutdown in the past, the Hillenbrands were set to close on a home using a VA loan, and that could have hampered their case. While active military doesn't get paid without special legislation, there are other ways personnel and families are affected. Commissaries on the military bases close, parts for equipment cannot be bought and civilian contractors and National Guardsmen do not get paid, amongst other blows.
In total, about 15 percent of the government shuts down operations. When former President Barack Obama signed the Pay Our Troops Act to fund the military during the three-week shutdown in 2013, Kim said "everyone breathed a sigh of relief."
Once the life of being an Army wife is over, Kim knows Monroe is a great place to be away from the worry of a shutdown, or an attack on a base or any number of headaches.
"The hard part is that there are very few others who understand the difficulty of being a military spouse and the responsibility that you carry," Kim said. "But I think that it's more than made up for that, just the general kindliness of the town. Just in general people here are nice, and warm and friendly and gentle and welcoming. And I really appreciate that. I don't feel like an outsider."
Kim said that even though she moved away from Monroe as a young child, she always connected with the town as her home. She and Richard were married at St. Victor's Catholic Church in 2012. Now she's ready to keep her family here for good.
"When people asked me where my hometown was, I always said Monroe," Kim said. "I love this town. It's a great place to be."
Since then she's moved around the country, most recently with her husband of five years, Richard, and their four children. With Richard, an Apache helicopter maintenance mechanic in the U.S. Army, deployed to South Korea, Kim had a choice - join him in Asia or hunker down with the kids somewhere.
She chose to stay in the United States, and specifically, returned to Monroe last year.
"This is the first time I've ever lived anywhere other than a military base since 2012," Hillenbrand said, noting like herself, her parents grew up in Monroe, her grandparents continue to live in the city and her brother recently returned with his family.
"When my husband got orders to South Korea, it was a choice - to come and check out Monroe and come back to where I was born," Hillenbrand said.
By the time the two had begun dating, Richard was already well into his military career. He signed up in 1999 during peace time, went to basic training in 2000 and was immediately trained for his job as a helicopter mechanic. From there, Kim said Richard went to South Korea after Advanced Infantry Training and prepared to deploy to the Balkans, namely Bosnia-Herzegovina, to earn an experience uncommon among those around him.
"They were all excited, because in 2000 there were very few people with combat patches," Kim said. "And then 9/11 happened, and everybody went to Afghanistan and Iraq, and now everyone has combat patches."
Richard has been deployed six times. He's been with the 1st Cavalry Division and the 82nd and 101st Airborne units. He was part of the initial push into Iraq in 2003. Now he's serving under his fourth president.
Kim referenced the National Geographic movie "21 Days to Baghdad," which she said depicts an experience similar to Richard's with days of driving and attacks targeting the unit's vehicles. She described his movements from Iraq to Germany, then Korea, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Downrange, Richard worked on Apache helicopters and led the Downed Aircraft Recovery Team. The group leads missions to locate and assess crashed helicopters, ultimately making the decision whether it can be fixed where it fell or if it needs to be destroyed, all within a combat zone.
Important moments in their lives were marked by these deployments. Kim found out she was pregnant with their first child, Eva, while Richard was on the plane to Afghanistan.
"I had to wait for him to land in Afghanistan and find somewhere to grab a phone to call me," Kim said. "I was at work, in a cardiac ICU in Texas when he called me. I said, 'You're going to be a dad!' I couldn't help myself."
Nearly 8,000 miles apart, Richard's excitement was nearly palpable through the phone.
"He was screaming 'Woohoo!' and I could hear in the background, the others banging on the door of his phone booth saying 'Shut up, Sarge!' Kim said. "When he came back on a 14-day leave, I luckily went into labor and had Eva. Then he went back to Afghanistan 10 days later. That was hard."
The couple had the rest of their children in short order. Samuel was born in February 2014, but Kim's pregnancy was filled with medical problems and for a time she was wheelchair-bound.
"The health problems I had had, they told me I would be able to have more children," Kim said. "They needed to do some surgery, and so if we wanted to have more children, we'd need to do it right away, so we took them very seriously."
William was born in December 2014, less than 11 months after Sam.
"The IRS asked a few unique questions that year. They didn't believe us," Kim said with a laugh.
The couple's fourth and final child, Ignatius, was born in November 2016. Whenever Richard leaves on tour, Kim said she doesn't watch the news.
"In 2012 right after I had Eva, he was back in Afghanistan, and I happened to be watching the news and there was an attack on his base," Kim said, noting she was anxious for 24 hours until she received word Richard was safe.
The couple also lived through the Fort Hood shootings. Richard was there for both, and Kim for the second one in 2014.
"It was really, really disturbing," Kim said. "The threat seemed to be coming from our own people instead of from the outside."
The threat level on the base reached Delta, which means that only military and family personnel are allowed inside, and everyone entering gets checked at the gate.
Currently in South Korea where Richard is deployed, the threat level is on Bravo, the second-lowest of the four levels - despite the tensions between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and both South Korea and the United States.
"(Richard) says there's a pattern to it," Kim said. "He doesn't feel worried, which helps me stay calmer."
Back in Monroe, Kim and her children take part in the community, away from the stress of living on a military base. She plans to take part in the Monroe Theatre Guild production of "You Can't Take it with You" in March and serves on the Green County Family YMCA Board of Directors.
"People have allowed me to volunteer and to use my skills to benefit our community," Kim said. "Towns that surround military bases are not as friendly to the military as you might expect. In fact, some of them are very hostile. And living in a quiet community where there is a lot of respect for veterans and retirees is nice.
"I know that it's a microcosm and that towns like this are rare and that a lot of people who live here have lived here forever, but having moved around this country and lived in all different places, Monroe is a really great place to live," she added.
Richard has been in the military now for over 17 years, and Kim noted he plans on retiring at the 20-year mark.
"We hope to retire here in a couple of years," Kim said. "St. Victor's is a great school for our daughter and sons. I am really happy here, and I really appreciate it. Even if things go south and (the federal government is) shut down again and our military isn't paid, I know that it'll be OK. There's resources that people have pointed out to me, which are great. And it's a community of people that care."
When the government faced a shutdown in the past, the Hillenbrands were set to close on a home using a VA loan, and that could have hampered their case. While active military doesn't get paid without special legislation, there are other ways personnel and families are affected. Commissaries on the military bases close, parts for equipment cannot be bought and civilian contractors and National Guardsmen do not get paid, amongst other blows.
In total, about 15 percent of the government shuts down operations. When former President Barack Obama signed the Pay Our Troops Act to fund the military during the three-week shutdown in 2013, Kim said "everyone breathed a sigh of relief."
Once the life of being an Army wife is over, Kim knows Monroe is a great place to be away from the worry of a shutdown, or an attack on a base or any number of headaches.
"The hard part is that there are very few others who understand the difficulty of being a military spouse and the responsibility that you carry," Kim said. "But I think that it's more than made up for that, just the general kindliness of the town. Just in general people here are nice, and warm and friendly and gentle and welcoming. And I really appreciate that. I don't feel like an outsider."
Kim said that even though she moved away from Monroe as a young child, she always connected with the town as her home. She and Richard were married at St. Victor's Catholic Church in 2012. Now she's ready to keep her family here for good.
"When people asked me where my hometown was, I always said Monroe," Kim said. "I love this town. It's a great place to be."