NOVEMBER 5 • 2020 | 19
Blau’
s history, the other doctor
I was able to interview from the
1990 JN article, there are two
other Jewish Detroit physicians
who served in Vietnam I came
to learn played significant roles
in Dr. Paul Gold’
s life.
FAMILIAR FACES
IN VIETNAM
Gold was also the recipient of
a Purple Heart. In March 1968
he was a victim of a rocket
attack which left his abdomen
splintered with shrapnel. He
was helicoptered to the 93rd
Evacuation Hospital in Long
Binh.
Upon being wheeled into the
operating room, he discovered,
to his astonishment, that while
lying nearly 9,000 miles away
from home, the surgeon about
to operate on him was Dr.
Arnold “
Arnie” Leshman, Gold’
s
childhood neighbor he grew up
with on Buena Vista in Detroit
and a Bronze Star recipient in
his own right.
Vietnam didn’
t take the life
of Leshman, but cancer did.
He passed away at the age of
75 in 2010 after a distinguished
career as a general surgeon in
Detroit, which included being
selected Outstanding Intern at
Sinai Hospital and his being
appointed chief of surgery at
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Hospital between 1994-2000.
Of his service to his country,
Leshman’
s widow, Sandra, told
me that her husband never tried
to get out of serving; instead,
he only asked for a delay of one
month so he could be home for
the birth of their third child.
His request accepted, Leshman
eventually left for Vietnam,
leaving his wife and three chil-
dren under the age 5 behind.
It became abundantly clear
during my conversation with
Sandra that her husband never
sought recognition for his ser-
vice, a sentiment her children
shared as well. “He was just
one of many. He did nothing
more than thousands of other
men and women,
” Sandra said,
reflecting also on the many who
lost their lives in service to their
country.
Vietnam veteran Dr. Joel
Leib, 79, and Dr. Paul Gold, 80,
have been friends since their
teens. They did everything
together. They attended Durfee
Middle School, Mumford High
School, Wayne State University
and Des Moines University’
s
College of Osteopathic
Medicine, got drafted togeth-
er, and even flew on the same
plane to Vietnam where their
assignments finally separated
the two.
Gold served on the frontlines,
while Leib became the com-
mander of the 332nd Medical
Dispensary on the Long Binh
Post, which didn’
t always keep
him out of harm’
s way. Leib
described a harrowing event
that occurred within 24 hours
of his arrival: “The first night
I was in Vietnam, I was laying
on a cot. Incoming mortars
came in and went ba-boom! I
was 6 miles from the perimeter
of the fighting and, honestly, it
knocked me out of bed.
”
Leib enjoyed one memora-
ble respite from the ravages of
war when he was assigned to
be the on-call doctor during
one of Bob Hope’
s legendary
Christmas Tour stops at his
base. He didn’
t get to meet the
comedian, who entertained
troops around the world from
1941- 1972, but he did get close
enough to photograph the
star-studded cast, which includ-
ed actress Raquel Welch and
singer/actress Barbara McNair.
Based on their history, it
should come as no surprise that
Leib and Gold returned on the
same flight home from Vietnam
in September 1968. Their life-
long bond would remain intact
through their professional lives,
when they partnered in a family
medicine practice in July 1970,
a relationship that lasted 50
years. Today, their friendship
remains as strong as ever.
LARRY BLAU’S
TURBULENT TOUR
Twenty-eight-year old Dr. Larry
Blau had every reason to believe
he would be spared a tour of
duty in Vietnam when he suf-
fered a ruptured disc while sta-
tioned in Hawaii in 1967.
At the time of the injury,
Blau was receiving training by
the Army in radiology. “I had
to have back surgery, and I
figured they’
ll never send me
to Vietnam. The day I was well
enough to return to my desk in
my radiology office was the day
I received my orders.
” A shock
to this married man with three
kids under the age of 6.
While serving as a radiologist
in the 3rd Field Hospital in
Saigon, Blau had another rea-
son to believe his tour of duty
would be cut short when the
Red Cross sent him home on
compassionate leave to visit his
hospitalized mother who was
believed to be terminally ill.
His trip home was, to say the
least, eventful. “I was visiting
with my mother in the hospital
when my father came in,
” said
Blau. “He was white as a sheet.
”
The father said he was having
indigestion, but his son the doc-
tor recognized other symptoms.
“Dad,
” he said, “you’
re having
a heart attack,
” sending him
immediately to the emergency
room.
Three days later Dr. Blau
made it a medical trifecta of
sorts when he developed a
kidney stone. “My father was
in cardiac intensive care and
my mother in surgical intensive
care at the same hospital while I
was hospitalized elsewhere.
”
Even this was not enough to
convince the Army to curtail
Blau’
s tour of duty. After pass-
ing the stone he was sent back
to Vietnam. Fortunately, his
parents would recover.
Blau was discharged exactly
two years to the day of when
his service had begun, Sept. 6,
1969. Just six days later, Blau’
s
WE TREATED PEOPLE WITH ALL
KINDS OF DISEASES AND GAVE
VACCINATIONS.
— DR. PAUL GOLD
continued on page 20
Dr. Paul Gold treating
Montagnard Vietnamese
tribesman in the
mountains, Republic
of South Vietnam
COURTESY OF DR. PAUL GOLD