Saluting the soldiers in Iraq and their families back home Donors offer their vacation spots to returning vets BY WYNN KOEBEL FOSTER STAFF WRITER PIONEER PRESS Every once in a rare while, fate conspires to put the right people in the right place at the right time with the right idea. The unlikely right place in this instance was Michael's Barber Salon, 7539 W. Montrose Ave., in Norridge. The right time was August 2005. And Robert Malnik - an Iraqi War veteran and a Steinmetz High School graduate - was telling barbers Mike and Joe about some of the fierce combat he had seen during his 14 months fighting with the U.S. Army in Iraq's notorious Sunni Triangle, an area roughly defined by the cities of Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit at its corners. The right eavesdropper, waiting his turn for a haircut, was Norridge Village Trustee Ron Oppedisano. "Thank you for your service," Oppedisano said, as he shook Malnik's hand and asked the right question: "Could you use a little rest and relaxation?" For Malnik, the right answer was a no-brainer. "Oh, yes!" he said. Oppedisano had a friend, Don Rubin of Highland Park, who had come up with a very right idea. "My wife and I had been watching television news of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan at our vacation home in Fish Creek, in Wisconsin's Door County," Rubin recalled. "We walked outside, wondering what we could do." The Rubins' vacation home is in a 12-home compound, and at the time, 10 of those 12 homes were vacant. How many other vacation homes and vacation time-shares are also standing unused? he wondered. How many vacation condos are vacant? How many ski lodges? "Why couldn't those properties be used to give returning soldiers some well-earned vacation time?" Rubin said. With that, Operation Welcome Home was born. Rubin offered his own vacation home as first on the list. Since then, others have volunteered their vacation properties. "We have a couple of houses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and a time share in Orlando," Rubin said. "There's also a time-share condo in Beaver Creek, Colo., available. I truly believe in my heart a lot more people would offer time at their vacation properties if they knew our organization existed." Servicemen and women have had bullets and bombs aimed at them, Rubin continued. They usually arrive home in financial distress. "I'd like to get businesses and chambers of commerce involved in our program," Rubin said. "Maybe we can have gift certificates waiting for our veterans to enjoy while they're at our vacation properties." When Malnik arrived home, he certainly was in need of a vacation. Malnik married Joanna Jablonska of Harwood Heights in 2003, just before he was deployed to Iraq. The couple had no time for a honeymoon. During his time in Iraq, Malnik was an M-19 gunner and manned the vehicle's 40-mm grenade launcher. He took part in the assault on the town of Samarra in September and October 2004. "That was our biggest battle," he said. "Our division of 10,000 took the town of 100,000. It was a seven-day battle, with fierce fighting." Rubin said he could use a few more properties to add to Operation Welcome Home's list. After all, at some point 180,000 soldiers, sailors and marines will be coming home from combat. Originally published in the Pioneer Press, serving 57 weekly newspapers in suburban Chicago