NIU freshman Sung Chung, 21, was ready to start his second semester at NIU, when the call came.

He had all his classes. He even had his first Calculus test this semester.

Then Tuesday, he was called for active duty and had to withdraw from NIU on Wednesday.

“I’m a little nervous, a little scared and very much excited,” Chung said.

Chung has been waiting for this news for several months. He was in the Army for three years and has been in their reserves since July.

Chung’s voice was full of emotion when he said, “I’m afraid of dying, and if it were just for myself I’d run back on the first plane, but there are too many people depending on me.”

After Chung heard the news, he wanted to spend his last night at NIU with all his residence hall friends.

He said he would miss his friends just like he has missed the buddies in his unit. “But I’m going to see my buddies again, so maybe I’ll see my friends here again too,” he said.

Chung said he wasn’t too upset about dropping out of school, because his graduation was delayed for three years while he was on active duty.

Chung said he has very strong feelings against Saddam Hussein and understands why he’s going to war.

“This guy is bombing people who are not even involved in the conflict,” Chung said. “The United States needs this guy out of the picture.”

He also is standing behind the president. “I may not agree with his decision and his timing, but I agree on his eventual (outcome),” Chung said.

“Let’s face it, this country depends a lot upon oil,” he said. “We may not get most of our oil from that country in particular, but those people (help) control the price of our oil.”

Chung’s roommate Ted Tranel said he feels better knowing Chung is somewhat excited about going. “It just brings war closer to home,” he said.

Another friend of Chung’s, Bryan Davis, 25, political science major is confident in Chung.

“Obviously, there’s the chance he could be injured or something worse, but I know he’s well trained,” Davis said. “He was in active duty for several years, so I have confidence that he’ll go over there, do his job and return safely.”

“I’ve known Sung since the beginning of the year and one of our own is being taken away from us,” said Chung’s friend Steve Cohen.

“It’s frightening that someone who lives with us, who we take meals with, is going to be fighting over there and could be hurt,” Cohen said. “But we are very proud of him.”