Working for $1.50 an hour in the design department of an embroidered emblem manufacturing company didn't hold much allure for nineteen-year-old Art Grau, so the letter from the US government caught his eye. He, the letter announced, could enjoy an exciting career in the military.
Enlisting to serve in the Army Security Agency, Art studied intelligence gathering and was assigned to Germany. Two years and one impulsive decision later, he was in Vietnam.
Landing in 'Nam at the start of the Tet Offensive, Art flew recon missions with the First Air Cav. He watched friends die, struggled to survive, and found that his penchant to get into ridiculous situations didn't diminish because he was in a war zone. Then he came home.
Home wasn't the same place he left. Vietnam veterans were treated with suspicion and contempt. Like many veterans, Art chose to hide his service from the world, along with the nightmares and panic attacks he brought back from the war.
We Gotta Get Outta This Place is Art's tale-a tale not just of war but also of the challenges of returning home. It's taken him fifty years to tell his story. He deserves to be heard.
About the Author: Art Grau is a retired speech-language pathologist with a master of science from Loyola College. He served in the US Army from 1965 to 1969, spending the last thirteen months in Vietnam.
At seventy-two, Art Grau lives in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife of forty-five years. They married, as fate would have it, the day the Vietnam Peace Treaty was signed.
Art Grau is the grandfather of a five-year-old granddaughter and eleven-month-old grandson. When not landscaping, making home repairs, or struggling valiantly to complete an endless honey-do list, he can be found protecting his community from those who would threaten its liberty-if those evildoers can be found in his backyard pool or on the local golf course.
