Arnold Grauer: The Real Mash Unit

By Marilyn Lucas, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

In 1964 the Vietnam draft impacted the lives of so many young men. Arnie, who had already graduated from medical school, decided to be the master of his fate. Feeling a little apprehensive about serving on a ship, he chose to avoid the Navy and enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 26. Little did he realize, at that time, ships were in his future, as the Marines are a part of the Department of the Navy and operate in close cooperation with U.S. naval forces at sea.

Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Grauer attended field medical service school at Camp Pendleton adjacent to the city of Oceanside, California. Over 200,000 Marines passed through this base on their way to the Far East. In order to prepare him for his service in Vietnam, he also attended anti-guerrilla warfare and jungle survival training at Subic Bay, Philippines. Following training, he was stationed at Camp Schwab, Okinawa as a battalion surgeon.

The very thing Arnie wanted to avoid when he enlisted became his location. He spent five months between the USS Alamo and the USS Tortuga as the battalion’s only medical doctor. The photograph depicts Arnie highlining from ship to ship. He was responsible for evacuating and treating injured and sick personnel. The highlining was the only means of transport from ship to ship. The ships were approximately 60 yards apart. Today we think of this as a fun adventure one might have over the rainforest. Interestingly, Arnie was very nonchalant in discussing this unusual mode of transportation. As so many of our veterans comment about their service, “you did what you were ordered to do.”

Arnie made a comment during our interview that if you couldn’t make a friend on a ship you couldn’t make a friend anywhere. The confined quarters were conducive to developing camaraderie with fellow Marines and Naval personnel. An amusing story was how Arnie developed a lifelong friendship with the engineer on the ship by the name of Corkie Drake. The walls between their bunks were quite thin and very often had pinholes. To amuse himself one night, he got a spinal syringe and filled it with water. He inserted the syringe through one of these pinholes and would squirt Corkie with water. Of course, Corkie  could not figure out how this water was flying through the air. This little trick went on for several nights until Arnie finally made a noise allowing Corkie to figure out the origin of the water. To this very day, Corkie and Arnie are dear friends and stay in touch. There are many stories of veterans who made incredible bonds and maintained them throughout their lives during such perilous times.

In 1965, Arnie was a part of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment Field Battalion aid station dealing with helicopter evacuation for wounded and injured. This was all a part of “Operation Starlite” which was the first major offensive action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War. They were the first regiment to nullify the threat to the Chu Lai Air Base and ensure the communication tower remained intact.  Arnie took a moment in our conversation to emphasize the care with which the Americans gave the Viet Cong prisoners. He himself attended to both Americans and Vietnamese. 

Arnie was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and spent his last five months as a medical officer at Minneapolis Naval Air Station. Often in war, our medical people are exposed to many inhumane horrors; seldom do we hear amusing anecdotes. Arnie was one of those lucky doctors to have an amusing anecdote at his end of service. He was called one day by the FBI. Of course, thinking this was a practical joke, he hung up the phone. He was called back immediately and told to pack his bags and be ready to leave promptly. Not being told who or where, he was rather reluctant, but of course followed orders. As he arrived at the black sedan with the American flags flying, he immediately knew something important was about to take place. He was driven to a hotel in Minneapolis and told to take his black bag and go upstairs. His new patient was Hubert Humphrey, the Vice President. To his pleasure, Arnie became Mr. Humphrey’s personal doctor when he was in town. He also enjoyed the company of Mrs. Humphrey during these visits, whom he said was a delight. 

Arnie ended his career with the military in June, 1966. He went on to practice primary care and internal medicine for 42 years until his retirement in 2013. He is married to his lovely wife Sarah, a former nurse also retired. He is the proud father of two daughters Rachel and Laura and two grandchildren. He will have the opportunity to make his first trip to Washington D.C. with his daughter Rachel, also a nurse. 

At the end of our conversation, Dr. Grauer reminded me that we lost nearly 59,000 men in the Vietnam War. Indeed, he is making a subtle statement about today’s politics and the aftermath of war.

Thank you Arnie, for your many years of service to our country. I have no doubt that your experiences of this trip, especially viewing the Vietnam Wall, will impact you for years to come. Honor Flight Chicago is proud to honor you and all the courageous veterans on this 101st flight.