Tom Hlobil

Thomas Hlobil    thlobil@sbcglobal.net

After high school, I went to the University of Illinois for two years where I attempted to major in chemical engineering and physics.  Unfortunately, that didn't work out for me.  Organic chemistry, in particular, was my downfall.  After the two years, I sat out a semester and worked to save money so I could return to school.  I had kept in contact with a dorm-mate from the U of I, Jeff Steinorth, who convinced me I should come out to John F. Kennedy College.  I enrolled and came out for the spring semester of 1968.  After some soul searching, I decided to major in business administration at Kennedy.

During that semester, after changing rooms and roommates a couple of times, I ended up rooming with Bill Kirst in Cambridge Hall.  My R.A., Joe Burns, heard me playing guitar in my room, and asked me to join his band.  In the fall of 1968, Kathy Corwin joined our group, which consisted of Joe Burns, Jay Stryker, Kathy Corwin, and myself.  We became the JB Express.  We played regularly that fall at a rathskeller in Fremont, and also at the VFW in Fremont.  We also played once at Gap's in Wahoo, and at the Alibi in Fremont.

During the summer of 1969, after having finished three semesters at Kennedy, I was drafted into the army.  I went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training and then on to Fort Ord, California for advanced infantry training.  I left for Viet Nam on January 30, 1970, and became part of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.  We did all our patrols somewhere in the jungles of Viet Nam.

I received a gunshot wound to my left arm in only our second contact with the enemy on April 30, 1970.  I was airlifted to a field hospital in country, and later to an Air Force hospital in Japan.

I finally came back to the U.S. on June 3, 1970.  I was sent to the Naval hospital at Great Lakes in Illinois.  It turned out that I had received a “million dollar” wound and would get a disability discharge from the Army, a disability pension, and a Purple Heart.

I returned to J.F.K. for the spring semester of 1971, and finished school with a degree in business administration.  After graduation, I didn't quite feel like I was ready to join the real working world yet, so I stayed in Wahoo for the summer, working as a night watchman at the college.

In the fall, I went back home to Illinois to make my way in the “real” world.  I had worked construction a couple of summers while going to college, so I got a job with Brighton Construction.  I worked on the construction of McCormick Inn, which was across 23rd from McCormick Place in Chicago.  I did “surveyor” type work shooting lines and grades for the building.

During the fall of 1971, I met my wife, Lori, on a blind date.  We started dating, and got engaged in 1972.  We got married in May of 1973.

Meanwhile, I got a job as an assistant superintendent for Metropolitan

Construction Company in Chicago.  In this capacity, I worked on the construction of the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel, and later on, I worked finishing office spaces in both One and Two Illinois Center.

It was now 1974, and along came the oil embargo.  Most construction had ceased, and I lost my job.  I decided I needed to find a job which wouldn't be subject to ups and downs like the construction industry.