By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer

AMELIA - Clermont County officials want to celebrate the life of Sgt. Charles Kiser, the 37-year-old Amelia native killed in Iraq Thursday, at a communitywide event next week.

"There will be no black ribbons,'' said Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud, who met with the Army Reservist's mother and other family members Friday afternoon in Amelia. "It will be an upbeat, patriotic event - something to celebrate Chuck's extraordinary life.''

A time and place for the event, which will be sponsored by the Clermont County commissioners, has not been determined.

"We will work with the family and proceed according to their wishes,'' Proud said.

For Clermont County, Kiser's death was the second time the war in Iraq hit painfully close to home. Front yards and businesses throughout the county have been displaying yellow ribbons since April 9, when it was learned that a 20-year-old Union Township soldier, Spc. Matt Maupin, was being held hostage by Iraqi insurgents.

"When it hits home like this, it is tough,'' Proud said. "But it has brought the community together.''

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced for Kiser, who was struck by shrapnel from a car bomb that exploded near his Humvee convoy, just outside of Mosul.

Kiser grew up in Amelia, graduating from McNicholas High School and attended the University of Cincinnati, where he was a track star. But he left the area and served seven years on active duty in the Navy, where he met his wife, Debbie.

They settled in her home state, in the tiny village of Cleveland, Wis., on the banks of Lake Michigan, where they had two children - 13-year-old Alicia and 10-year-old Mark.

Kiser often visited Amelia to see his mother, Glenda, and his five sisters - Chris, Denise, Patty, Teresa and Joy. His father, Charles, died in 2002.

Kiser spent seven years in the Naval Reserve after his active duty stint. He then joined the Army Reserve because he could train at nearby Fort McCoy. He left for Iraq late last year with the 330th Military Police Detachment, based in nearby Sheboygan, Wis.

A story in Friday's Sheboygan Press described the farewell party in Cleveland, thrown by friends and family for the departing soldier and the return of many of those same people Thursday, when they gathered in the Kiser family's front yard after hearing news of his death.

A family friend, Steve Holzwart, told the Press Kiser had re-enlisted in the Army Reserve while in Iraq. "He had a chance to get out,'' Holzwart told the newspaper. "It hurt him to be away from his family.''

But, Holzwart said, Kiser "died doing what he wanted to do. He thought the cause was just.''

Other family friends in Cleveland told the Press Kiser coached a championship Little League baseball team last year and volunteered to work with youth at Zion United Church of Christ in Sheboygan.

"Let people know he was a great guy,'' Holzwart said. "You couldn't ask for a better father."

Iraq-related Cincinnati-area casualties

• Army Sgt. Benjamin Franklin Moore III, 25, Hamilton, accidentally shot to death Feb. 21, 2003, in Fort Hood, Texas, while training to be deployed in Iraq.

• Army Pfc. Marlin T. Rockhold, 23, Hamilton, killed by a sniper May 8, 2003, while patrolling in Baghdad.

• Army Sgt. Chad Keith, 21, Batesville, killed July 7, 2003, when a roadside bomb exploded as his unit patrolled Baghdad.

• Army Spc. James Christopher Wright, 27, Delhi Township, killed Sept. 18, 2003, during a firefight after an ambush in Tikrit, near the Tigris River.

• Army Sgt. Stephen D. Conover, 21, Wilmington, killed Nov. 2, 2003, when a Chinook helicopter was downed by a missile as it flew toward Baghdad. Fifteen other soldiers died in the attack.

• Army Sgt. Charles Kiser, 37, Cleveland, Wis., killed June 24 outside of Mosul after shrapnel from a car bomb flew through the windshield of his Humvee.

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E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com