ROCHELLE — Dennis Orlikowski of Rochelle served in the United States Navy from 1980-1986. His first four years were spent in active duty and final two years were in the reserves. Orlikowski’s service included being stationed on a ship in the Pacific. 

After growing up in Rochelle, Orlikowski enlisted in 1980 and went to boot camp at Great Lakes. He underwent training for his machinist mate duty at the same location before getting orders to be deployed to Japan to the Yokosuka Naval Base, where he served on a guided missile cruiser with 435 people on board. 

Orlikowski did a lot of training and qualifying for different duties in his time on board. He started as a messenger before moving up to throttleman, which opened the steam valves to get the ship to go forwards or backwards. He then qualified for top watch, helping to run the engine room, before qualifying for engineer officer watch, despite not being an officer. 

Orlikowski’s ship patrolled the South China Seas, the Philippine Seas and Japan Seas. During his time, it performed rescues of the passengers of a merchant ship in the Strait of Malacca, the pilot and passengers of a private helicopter, and another ship with 79 people on it near Thailand. His ship was also involved in the response to the Iran Hostage Crisis. 

“When we were in Korea we were on liberty in a bar and all of the sudden the shore patrol and police came in and said anybody from a Navy ship better get back to their ships,” Orlikowski said. “We found out we were headed towards Iran because that was when they first started taking college kids hostage. We were steaming towards Iran for two days before it was resolved and they turned us back.”

Orlikowski was stationed in the Pacific from August 1981 to October 1984 before returning home. His three years deployed exposed him to foreign cultures, along with the culture of the military. 

“I noticed certain things,” Orlikowski said. “When you're in foreign countries you learn to really listen to what people are saying. You can pick up a few words and figure out what they're trying to talk to you about. I came back and as soon as I stepped into the airport I said, 'I can understand everybody again.' It was quite the experience for me. You're supposed to have two years' rotation, but my rotation came up and our ship was in dry dock for weapons work and my chief asked me to stay because there was a shortage of people on board that knew how it ran. I went through training again. They're always making sure everybody knows what their job is and you have to treat it like it's a real scenario. Some of the training is intense and sometimes you’re going for 18-20 hours a day.”

Orlikowski chose to enlist in the Navy due to a shortage of jobs in the area upon his graduation from high school. He wanted to find a place to get experience and had done some machinist work in high school. 

“I like fixing things and making sure everything is running right, so I went into machinist mate,” Orlikowski said. “I come from a big family, I was one of seven kids. There wasn't money to send me to school or anything and I didn't have a job to pay for it. So I went into the service.”

Orlikowski’s civilian career since serving has included working at Stillman Valley Tool & Die for four years before becoming a union carpenter, which he’s done for 23 years. He believes his time in the service gave him skills for the rest of his life. 

“I learned to not panic,” Orlikowski said. “There were situations we were in that were serious, and at the time, I didn't think anything of it. Because I knew the Navy would have my back and protect me. As long as everyone did their job and position, I felt like we were fine. Whether that was true or not, I don't know. But that's how I felt. They teach a lot on leadership. It's structure that you don't really see nowadays. And I knew people had my back. It was Cold War time and not active war, but you still build up relationships with guys. When you went somewhere with people from your ships, you knew people had your back.”

Orlikowski currently serves as the commander of VFW Post 3878 in Rochelle. He’s been involved with the organization for two years. His work has included volunteering with the Eastern Lee-Ogle Honor Guard to pay respect to service members at their funerals. 

“I volunteer here because I like to help veterans that need help,” Orlikowski said. “When I got out of the service I felt like, 'What am I going to do now? Where am I going to get help?' There was nothing really. I like to help veterans because I've been through it. And people down here have your back. I like listening to the stories that some of the older guys have. People here are easier to talk to because you know they've been through the military. I like helping out with funerals. I consider that a great honor, paying my respects.”

Orlikowski’s uncle served in the Navy as well. His grandfather was in the Navy during World War II, and his great grandfather was in the U.S. Navy and Polish Navy in World War I. He takes pride in his family’s service history and respects veterans for all they’ve given. 

“So many went through worse than I did,” Orlikowski said. “I feel like I've been lucky. I'm glad I did it. And if I had to make the choice again, I'd do it again. If I could go back I probably would have stayed in longer. Because I liked the structure. The first time you get onboard a ship, they're on you about getting training to keep advancing. They want you to advance. You're always training and reading books and going through manuals and tracing systems.”

Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.