Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1990)
Photos by At Schaben Clockwise from far left: Villwok and his twin brother, Jim, say goodbye at 1012th headquarters in Fremont. Villwok spends a quiet moment holding his rosary while packing gear for Saudi Arabia. A soldier shaves Villwok’s head in preparation for another climate. Villwok takes a final look back before boarding a 747 bound for Saudi Arabia. During a combat exercise at Fort Riley, Villwok rushes between buildings. , Reserves Continued from Page 7 lime passes slowly. “About ihe only thing we usually do for entertainment is listen to our Walkman, write letters,” Villwok says. “We get excited if there’s a short line for chow.” Villwok and other soldiers in the barracks discuss the food. Roast beef, hamburgers, soups and salads, rice and potatoes. Not bad, but it’s the same stuff, over and over. Pretty soon, he says, his diet may consist of dehydrated T-rations. That’s what frontline soldiers are getting in Saudi Arabia. “It makes dorm food look like you’re eating a nice candlelight dinner,” he says. * Villwok and Tichota first became friends in seventh grade. “We were both smaller kids,” Villwok said, so they banded together from the start. Along with another friend — a Marine Corps lance corporal cur rently stationed a su ne’s throw from the Saudi Arabia-Kuwait border — they did the usual things that teen-age friends do: baseball games, the cross country team, double dates, fishing trips to Minnesota, jobs at Godfather’s Pizza. “All the good stuff,” Villwok said. At UNL, they continued doing things together. Both are sophomore criminal justice majors. They had many of the same classes. They worked together for the Office of | Campus Recreation and they played intramural football. Villwok was president of their dorm floor. But until this year, the two best friends never had roomed together. “I guess being roommates was bad luck,” Villwok said. “They say it doesn’t work.” * Villwok and Tichola don’t see each other much anymore. They’re in different platoons, separate barracks. They don’t talk much about school, cither — except to plan when they will return. “It looks like summer school un less something bigger happens,” Ti chota says. “Unless there’s war, they can’t keep us long.” Reserves can be activated for “90 days or release by proper authority,” Tichota quotes from Army policy. The K)l2ih has completed one-third of those 90 days. But its tour of duly can be extended w ith one day’s warning. Villwok says he was relieved when his unit finally was called up. Alter all, Reserves had been put on alert since the beginning of the semester, w hen the president authori/ed upgrading some units to active duty, it the unit had been passed over, Villwok sa>s. he would have had a lot ol catching up to do for his classes. “It was probably my hardest se mester I’ve been through and it was only six weeks long,” he says. “School may seem tough at the time and then you gel put in a dif ferent situation. Getting up at 9 to study is not as tough as (getting up) at 5,” Tichota says. * Before graduating from Fre mont’s Archbishop Bergan High School, Villwok says, he and Tichota faced many of the same choices that other seniors deal w ith: getting a job, going to college or joining the Army. His mother wanted him to go to college; his father wanted him to join the Army for a lew years. So he took his parents’ advice and did both. He visited an Army recruiter during the spring of 1988, while still a senior. A few days later he was a reservist. Tichota, 17 at ihe lime, had 10 he talked into it, but eventually followed his friend's lead A couple months laler, Villwok was al f ort I)i\, N.J., for Ixxil camp. Alter a few more months ol training at Fort l.ee, Va., he came to UNL. for his freshman year of college. Since then, he has earned more than $10,000 lor college because of his commitment to the Army. In return, he owes six years ol military service. That meant training one week end a month and two weeks every summer. It meant that up to Oct. 9. Thai’s the day Tichota’s squad leader called. He told them the unit had been activated. Villwok and Tichota had waited hall a semester lor the new s. It’s no wonder they remember exactly ; what they were doing. It was midaficmoon; Tichota and Villwok had just returned to their room on the l()th floor of Schramm Hall. Villwok had a premonition. “When I got back from class, I pul my dog tags on .. . ," Villwok says. “About 20 minutes later we got the call.” Shortly alter the call, Tichota's girlfriend called him during the day. the lirst time she had done so all year. Somehow, she knew . Tichota says. Villwok says he knew the night before. He stayed up until ? a m. writing a paper for his English com position class. He poured out his thoughts: Ihc though', of going over to Saudi Arabia doesn't bother me; / am trained for war and feel that / am i apable of handling the situ ation. . . . I have been waiting every day for the call to come and / would be shipped off. Over 40 days so far but only friends and wrong numbers have been on the line. . . .If the call comes the waiting will be over. The school work keeps piling up and every effort that / have been giving to hit the books leads me to think, "for what?" With all of these questions / haven’t been able to study. . . . All that I can pray for is that something happens quick . . . be it pulling on the green uniform or playing catch-up in this crazy semester that I am trying to en dure." “I didn’t want to write it,” Villwok says, “because I knew it would be for nothing. When the call came, Tichota was in a neighbor's room looking over some homework before getting ready to go to work at the Office of Campus Recreation. Instead of going to work that night, he and Villwok both staff assistants for intramural sports returned their equipment and said goodbye to their co-workers. “They couldn’t believe it," Vill wok says. “They thought we were kidding.” Then he and Tichota started gel ling ready for a different job. They were in Lincoln for only a few more hours that night, taking care of es sential business; their parents took furniture home to Fremont later. At midnight Oct. 11, they were at headquarters of the 1012th in Fremont, active soldiers in the U.S. Army. See RESERVES on 10 “44 - When I got back from class, I put my dog tags on.... About 20 minutes later we got the call. Villwok -99 “