Member of Greatest Generation to be Honored Inside Madison Square Garden
By: Andrew Giangola
“The spectacle of watching a rider, sitting atop a fearsome one-ton bull, fidgeting to find the most effective grip of the flat, braided rope, the menacing bull rattling the walls of the chute as an ominous warning, all combine to heighten my eager anticipation of the impending danger. I grip, with increasing tightness, the armrest of my sofa while imagining that I’m holding on for dear life. The chute gate swings open, the mighty bull explodes into the arena, fiercely bucking the rider as if he’s a rag doll spinning dizzyingly in a washing machine. I’m alternatingly exclaiming ‘OOH!’ and ‘WOW!’ while squirming in my seat. I’m out of breath, and I’m sitting on my sofa! The Kentucky Derby is known as the most exciting two minutes in sports. Professional Bull Riding is the most breathtaking eight seconds in sports!”
NEW YORK CITY – Those are the words of a man who is 97 years young, the decorated WWII U.S. Navy Combat Veteran, Arthur Grabiner, who will be given PBR’s “Be Cowboy” award on Saturday night in New York as the original extreme sport comes to Madison Square Garden for the 16th time.
PBR honors a local hero at every tour stop, but this weekend’s recognition is extra special.
Grabiner is a hero who represents a generation that saved the world. They are a group of distinguished men and women who will soon disappear altogether.
Of the 16.1 million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII, approximately 99% are no longer with us, according to the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs.
“In other words, only 1% of these American Heroes remain with us,” said Arthur Grabiner’s proud son, Douglas. “Sadly, it won’t be many years before all we have left are museums and memorials, statues of Generals and Admirals, and history books.”
Father and son share a mutual fondness for horses, which is where Arthur’s connection to rodeo and then PBR began.
As a youngster raised in the New York City borough of the Bronx, Grabiner witnessed horse-drawn commerce in the streets: wagons pulled by horses delivering milk, selling fruits, vegetables and more.
His father, Hyman, had a closer connection to horses, serving in the Polish cavalry for five years shortly after the turn of the previous century.
In August 1912, Hyman Grabiner, with his wife Mamie, and their two young daughters, Jeanette and Pearl, set sail for America after leaving their home country of Poland aboard the steamship SS Lapland. (Four months earlier, when the Titanic sank, the SS Lapland carried surviving crew members of the ship billed as unsinkable from the United States to England.)
Like many of their contemporaries, the Grabiners settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the family expanded with the birth of three more children: Alex, Celia and Arthur.
In April 1942, four months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrusting the United States of America into WWII, then-59-year-old Hyman Grabiner registered to make himself available for the draft by the U.S. Armed Forces.
“This fourth registration was often called the ‘Old Man’s Draft’ because it registered men who were 45 to 64 years old at the time,” Doug Grabiner said. “Thirty years after leaving his home in Poland and leading his wife and young children to America, Hyman was proud to do his part for his adopted country.”
His grandson Doug’s own love of horses would be kindled when spending four summer vacations throughout high school working as a groom at Monticello Raceway in Monticello, NY, two hours northwest of New York City.
Each day, he’d take care of racehorses at the half-mile track, bathing, walking, feeding and exercising them several miles. He’d also bandage their legs, muck out their stalls, care for their tack or equipment and take them to the farrier to be shod with new horseshoes.
“I would be with the racehorses in the paddock to prepare them for the race then take care of them post-race,” he explained. “Horses are delightfully wonderful animals! I always enjoy their company.”
Father and son would often watch telecasts of rodeo on RFD-TV.
“It was dad who discovered PBR on CBS, and he’s continued to be a fan,” Doug said. “Dad’s friends who reside in Texas in Abilene, Pflugerville, Friendswood and the Woodlands are all delighted that a lifelong urbanite from New York City is a fan of professional bull riding.”
The elder Grabiner says he’s captivated by bulls “with evocative names” such as Widow Maker. He marvels at the resilience of the riders continuing to get back on after violent wrecks.
“I’ve watched the harrowing video of courageous Ben Jones’ head slamming into the skull of Widow Maker during a PBR competition,” he said. “Ben’s head then hits Widow Maker’s shoulder before he is flung off Widow Maker’s back. Amazingly, Ben landed on his feet, regained his balance without his backside ever touching the arena floor. Bull riders and bulls are gritty!”
That sounds like a spot-on description for a decorated sailor who attained the rate of Yeoman Second Class and earned honors including: Asiatic Pacific Medal 2 Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon 1 Star, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, American Theater Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp), and World War II Victory Medal.
Following his service, while enjoying a flourishing career and thriving practice as a Certified Public Accountant, Grabiner has devoted himself to educating students about the sacrifices of Americans who valiantly served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.
He has visited elementary, high school and university students in New York, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan describing his island-hopping experiences serving in the war’s Pacific Theater, offering vivid, firsthand details not found in any history textbook.
Grabiner recounts amphibious assaults as troops descend cargo net rope ladders into landing crafts, Higgins boats approaching a Japanese-held beach, ramps springing open and troops storming the beach under enemy fire.
The students – many nearly the same age as the young 18 to 20 year old sailor was – manage to forget about their smart phones when he describes Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft attacks on his task unit of U.S. Navy ships, the resulting fires and loss of life, and later that day at sunset somberly standing at attention and saluting on the deck of his ship as his fallen fellow U.S. Navy sailors, their remains draped in American flags, are buried at sea.
The enduring example of living a purposeful life that Grabiner sets and the lessons of courage and valor he teaches have impacted countless lives, but none more than Doug.
“Most children never meet their hero,” he said. “I’m extraordinarily blessed to have been raised, inspired and unconditionally loved by my hero, my father, who has lived a remarkable life of selfless service to his country and community. Every day is Father’s Day. Every day is Veterans Day.”
Saturday night at The Garden will be the first live PBR event for father and son.
Before his “Be Cowboy” recognition during a break in Round 2’s action, Grabiner is hoping to meet a few of the fearless adventuresome bull riders whom he views as heroic in their own right.
Don’t put it past him to try to talk one of them into letting him sit on a bull.
“In my late 90s, I have my aches and pains every day. A few seconds atop that bull might straighten me out and put me back in proper alignment,” he joked.
Andrew Giangola is author of Love & Try: Stories of Gratitude and Grit in Professional Bull Riding, available on PBRShop.com and amazon.com, benefitting injured bull riders through the Western Sports Foundation.
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