Maurice “Maury” Siders of Rochester served in the military as did his two brothers, Marvin Siders and Wilbur “Will” Siders. Marvin was killed in Vietnam, and Siders is shown holding Marvin’s medals. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — Maurice “Maury” Siders and his two brothers all served in the military.

Siders, of Rochester, joined the Army in 1961 following in the footsteps of his older brother, Marvin Siders.

Siders, who was born in Fulton County, headed to the Army after graduating from Deedsville High School at the age of 17. His younger brother, Wilbur “Will” Siders later joined the Marines.

Siders served in two stints, with the first going until 1964.

His basic training was at Fort Knox in Kentucky.

He next went to Fort Gordon in Georgia for advanced individual training for radio communications.

Siders then headed to Fort Monmouth in New Jersey.

“The company I was in put in communications for anybody where they were needed, so we went a lot of places … within the U.S.,” he said.

Siders then went to South Korea in 1963 for 13 months, being stationed right by the demilitarized zone.

He achieved the rank of E-5 sergeant before he got out of the military.

Siders reenlisted in the Army in 1966, serving until 1968.

He said he “went through weapons training” at Ford Ord in California, then “jump school” at Fort Benning in Georgia. He next went to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

“I went through special forces medic training,” said Maury.

The Army then sent him to Okinawa in Japan.

“Our responsibility area was the rest of the western Pacific, so we went to Taiwan, the Philippines,” said Siders. “Mostly what we did was we went and trained that country’s special forces.”

Siders said he never really used his medic training while in the Army, so he would go to the base hospital “and work weekends, just so I wouldn’t forget everything I’d learned.”

He noted he, Marvin and Will were “all three … in the eastern Asia area.”

Both his brothers did two tours in Vietnam, with Marvin, a company commander, being killed while there.

Siders said Marvin “was nominated for the Medal of Honor.” Marvin was later inducted into the Fort Benning Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.

Marvin also received a number of other medals, which Siders is shown holding in the picture above.

After Siders got out of the Army and returned to the U.S., he married his wife, Kathy Siders, in June 1969. They had one son and were married until Kathy passed away earlier this year.

Siders first worked for PSI, which later became Duke Energy, after getting out of the Army. He and Kathy bought a tavern in the 1980s.

They sold that and bought a blueberry farm west of Rochester known as Siders Blueberry Farm in 1986. They also bought the Bloomin’ Corner garden center in Rochester.

“We had the farm for 35 years and the Bloomin’ Corner about 25 years,” said Siders.

He said he also “worked as an electrician in factories from 1985 to 2010.”

Siders said traveling overseas with the military allows people to experience how much better life is in the U.S. “and make them appreciate this country a whole lot more.”

“I think every young man should serve his country, and there’s plenty of jobs for women in the Army also,” he said.

Siders noted on Veterans Day people should be grateful to those who’ve been in the military.

“Everybody ought to thank those that served, whether they were in combat or not,” he said.