Veterans Day Spotlight: Marcel Arrouet

In celebration of Veterans Day, we invited members of the Douglas Elliman community who have served in the U.S. armed forces to reflect on how their service experiences have shaped their lives and careers in the real estate business. Marcel Arrouet, Real Estate Agent, Palm Peach, Florida Please describe your military service. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963, with Vietnam active, I was given two choices: join or be drafted. I knew I didn’t want to go to Vietnam. The Air National Guard at Westchester County Airport had never been called up; therefore, it was my first stop. The Colonel there told me, “If you can get yourself trained, come back.” So, I joined the Connecticut Army National Guard in Danbury, near my home. I then went to Ft. Dix in New Jersey, then to Ft. Polk in Louisiana, for Advanced Infantry Training, and the last stop before soldiers were shipped to Vietnam and the front line. Upon returning to Danbury and awaiting deployment, I went to Westchester County Airport, where the Colonel remembered me and assigned me to the Finance Office, making out payrolls for the pilots and support personnel. I travelled from my apartment in NYC to the airport once a month for five and a half years to complete my six years of Air National Guard service. In what ways, if any, has your service experience shaped the way you approach your life and career in real estate? I was a varsity athlete at Taft School and the University of Pennsylvania, and I’ve always had a positive, winning attitude toward my fellow team athletes. After working as an institutional salesman on Wall Street for 45 years, I retired to Palm Beach and started my second career selling real estate. I love this country, and my service extended my experience of being a team player and getting along with others for a common goal, especially people I had nothing in common with.