As dusk transforms into evening, the last trace of sunlight floods the window where Pfc. Wes Hillis sits inside a friend's apartment a few months before he is shipped to Iraq.
The agile light entering between the swinging vertical blinds moves across his face and highlights his already piercing blue eyes and blonde, military-shorn buzz cut. He begins to realize this is one of his last chances to rest before he embarks on a life-altering journey.
Hillis signed up for the United States army on Feb. 17, 2004, to get money for school.
"Once I signed up, I pretty much knew I was going over there [Iraq]. I just considered it part of my new job," Hillis said.
Hillis, 21, is a 2002 graduate of Wickenburg High School in Wickenburg, Ariz. He moved to Phoenix later that year to pursue a computer science degree at ASU. His plans to graduate in 2006 were stalled when he was recruited in 2004.
His one-year journey to Iraq will have him return in late 2006.
He is committed to a one-year trip to Iraq and three months of service after that. However, the army can send him back to Iraq at their discretion. If he is not shipped overseas again, the only thing he wants to do is attend ASU.
Hillis said his grades started to slip his freshman year after he formed a habit of partying. But when he comes back, he plans to focus on his studies.
"I plan to straighten out my grades at ASU," he said. "Hopefully this time I won't skip out on so many classes."
Hillis left ASU when his basic training began in February 2004.
"In the beginning, basic training is hard on you, but you learn to appreciate things you never did before," like free time, he said.
Currently stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, Hillis is scheduled to leave for Iraq in the coming months. He can't say exactly when he's leaving or where he's going for safety reasons. However, he is optimistic about his situation.
"I'm going to do everything I can to bring myself and my fellow soldiers home," he said.
After talking with military friends and veterans about their tours, he realized the only thing constant in the war is change.
"The only real constant is that it's hot over there," he said with a smile.
Hillis said another change is the national view of the Iraqi war.
"The media tries to make sense of something that can't make sense," Hillis said. "It's a rare case to see a story about something good that has happened over there because that just doesn't sell."
Hillis said he appreciates the support he receives from people in his life and sometimes from complete strangers.
When wearing his uniform outside of training camp, people often stop to shake his hand, veterans tell him their war stories, and he receives positive feedback about his courage to defend his country.
Another source of support has been Steve Rose, a close friend of six years who attended Wickenburg High School with Hillis. Rose said he
wishes Hillis all the best on his trip.
"Wes is unique in his own way, but there is no guy with a bigger heart," Rose said. "I think he views the military as a way for him to help others and the world around them."
Hillis has lived in other states for months at a time during his training. He is able to go home for a few weeks every six to eight months. That lifestyle has taken its toll on Hillis.
Hillis was home last week enjoying the physical and emotional break from his training schedule before he is transferred to a different country.
"The hardest thing to get used to is the lack of contact with the world," he said. "When you have to just leave your life behind, it takes a lot out of you.
"I don't think I can really get used to the fact that I'm going. There's no way to prepare."
Reach the reporter at devon.hersom@asu.edu.
