Elmhurst soldier was 'doing the job he was asked to do'

Joe Vanek was just four months from the end of his third tour of duty in Iraq.

And thoughts of the 22-year-old Army sergeant and Elmhurst native's future outside of the military seemed very close in his mind.

He called his older sister, Anne, on Sunday.

The two talked for about a half-hour about the Chicago Bears and their lukewarm season. Joe Vanek asked about places in Chicago he might live after his return.

Then he made her pull out the classified ads and read a few listings to get a feel for the possibilities.

"He didn't want to pay more than $500 a month for a place," Vanek said outside her family's home, clad in her brother's field jacket, teary-eyed but still laughing about the experience.

The phone line cut out before Anne Vanek could say goodbye.

Little did she know that would be the last conversation she would have with her little brother.

Joe Vanek, a soldier with the Army's 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was killed in Iraq Monday after his unit was attacked with small arms fire, according to a release provided by the Department of Defense.

Joe Vanek is the 134th Illinoisan killed in Iraq since the war started and the 23rd to die this year.

Family members on Tuesday were still coming to grips with the news.

"The details were sketchy," said Frank Vanek, Joe's father. "But the Army men who came were very professional. They have the worst job in the whole world."

Joe Vanek joined the military with two close friends shortly after graduating from York Community High School in 2003.

Principal Diana Smith said he was an avid social studies student, taking six electives in the area.

"He talked about wanting to be a social studies teacher," Smith said. "He had a great future. He was a great young man."

Frank Vanek said his son joined the track team at school his senior year, in part to prepare for the physical toll he'd face in military life.

"His mother and I never questioned his decision," Frank Vanek said. "He told us he was doing the right thing."

Joe Vanek served his first tour in Mosul, Iraq, during the country's historic elections, Frank Vanek said. By his third tour, Joe Vanek was stationed in Baghdad.

He was slated to go home in August, but Frank Vanek said his son was notified over the summer that his tour would be extended until March 2008.

Vanek family members kept close tabs on news about the war in Iraq. Occasionally, Frank Vanek asked his son during phone calls home whether he was involved.

"He never talked much about what he was doing," Frank Vanek said. "We read up on everything that was going on and asked him about it. The most he'd say was that he was there" during events reported in the media.

Friends, family members and well-wishers from the community spent Tuesday paying visits to the Vanek family home.

And DuPage County board members held a minute of silence Tuesday for the fallen soldier. Jan Vanek, Joe's mother, is a former longtime Elmhurst alderman.

"He was a great kid," Elmhurst Mayor Tom Marcucci said. "He was out there doing the job he was asked to do."

Marcucci said Vanek provided an example of bravery to the soldiers he led.

"His men followed him," he said. "They trusted him."

Funeral arrangements were still being finalized Tuesday.

• Daily Herald staff writers Rupa Shenoy and Marni Pyke contributed to this report.