U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (SSG) Hiedi Miller served her country and continues to help people in her community. Miller grew up in Glenburn, ND. Her father, Brian Folstad, served in the Army Reserve, in the Navy in Vietnam, and in the civil service on Minot AFB.

In the fall of 1992, Miller took the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) in high school, and then a recruiter began to call her house. Miller explained that her father was so excited that the recruiter was calling, so she decided to speak with him. Once Miller took that phone call, it changed her life. She said it was a bit of her father’s excitement, her curiosity about a new job, and the money for college that prompted her decision to enlist in January 1993. Her choice that day shaped her life and helped her “take a lot of cool steps along the way that she wouldn’t have went otherwise.”

When Miller was 17, she joined the U.S. Army Reserve, completing basic training between her junior and senior year of high school. Then, completed her Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for combat medic after she graduated from high school. She served in the 4226th U.S. Army Hospital located at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Minot until 2006. It was decided that the 4226th would deactivate, so Miller moved to the National Guard. She said that the military helped her to achieve her goals by exposing her to different cultures, helping her to learn about the medical field, and most of all, meeting some of the greatest people and developing irreplaceable, lifelong friendships.

What surprised Miller the most about serving in the military was “how it gets in your blood, like you just got to stay. It feels really good to serve your community and serve people.” Miller also explained that besides the good feelings, it’s the awesome individuals that a soldier comes to know—people with whom a soldier shares the same values, and becoming like a whole, extended, second family. From other soldiers, Miller learned what it meant to be a good leader and what and what not to do to become that good leader—to lead by example and make a difference in a soldier’s life.

Miller’s advice to new recruits is to push themselves, and to do things they thought they would never do. She explained that at first, it might be scary but do it because no one knows the extent of their abilities until they try a new job or step into a higher position. Utilize all the opportunities that you’re offered and take that assignment that’s out there to see the world.
The military really did help Miller reach her educational goals too.

While still in the U.S. Army, Miller earned a master’s degree in social work and manages her own counseling clinic in Minot. Miller said she was attracted to the field of social work because around the age of 21, she needed counseling herself, and she appreciated how the counselor helped her with different perspectives and how to reframe how to look at situations. She thought it would be awesome to do that kind of work. Miller worked many years with different organizations, including the Veterans’ Administration (VA), and finally, to achieve a better work, home, and family life, she opened her own office. It has allowed her to help people in a better, more meaningful way.

Since December of 2022, Miller has achieved her dream of helping more people in the Minot community. Because she is a veteran and recognizes all that veterans do and have done for their country, she calls her service Healing Freedom Counseling because mental health struggles can prevent a person from feeling free.

Miller states, “Freedom is so, so important, and I wish for everyone to have that, but with mental health struggles, sometimes those get in the way of feeling free, so by healing those, you can reach that freedom and be your best self.” Miller retired from the U.S. Army as a Staff Sergeant (SSG, E-6) in April 2013 with 20 years of service.

View our full Tribute to Service: https://www.nordaknorth.com/newspapers/northernsentry/online-issues/tribute-to-veterans-2024/