Capt. Andrew Rader’s descendants visit post clinic

Capt. Andrew Rader’s relatives get a tour through Rader Clinic. Shown are Liz and Frank Rader, their daughter Ellie, 8, and Lt. Col. Damon Baine, deputy commander of administration at Rader Clinic.

When Frank Rader visited Fort Myer and Andrew Rader Clinic in the summer of 2007, he said he intended to get a view of what folks thought about the uncle he’d never met.

‘‘I walked in at an awkward time for the clinic.Everyone was busy with some high level things, and it amazed me how they made sure I felt welcome,” he said.

‘‘I walked in through a side door entrance and there was a Soldier tending to duffle bags there, but he walked me to the front desk, and the lady at the desk said ‘You’re a Rader!’I guess I look like my uncle.”

Capt. Andrew Rader, clinic namesake and American World War II hero whose personal efforts to tend to the wounded in the Phillipine Islands saved hundreds of lives, died about five years before his nephew was born.

Frank was impressed, not only with Rader Clinic but with how the staff at Rader behaved toward him when he told them he was a relative of Capt. Rader.

‘‘They were most gracious and kind to me, toured me all over the clinic,” said the soft-spoken Rader.

Capt. Rader was a prisoner at ‘‘Hospital #1” on Bataan where he treated sick and wounded for two years, then was killed in action in October 1944.

Last week Frank brought his wife Liz and their daughter Ellie, 8, back to get a look at the clinic and meet the staff at Rader.

‘‘When my husband first visited the Rader Clinic, he had gone to Arlington [National Cemetery], then walked over to Myer and over to the clinic,” Liz said. ‘‘He got a really warm welcome.

‘‘He started talking about the reception he got from the Rader Clinic staff, and he began to cry. He was very, very moved. I could tell it meant the world to him and that one of the things we must do was go to Rader Clinic.”

Lt. Col. Damon Baine, Rader Clinic’s deputy commander of administration greeted them at the clinic and showed them around.

‘‘Colonel Baine came bounding down the stairs and greeted Frank and me and Ellie. People were so incredibly nice. I thought ‘these people must be putting us on,’” Liz said laughing.

‘‘But no, they were sincere. They said it was an honor to meet us all.That clinic, it’s got some age on it, but it’s clean as a whistle.We were very impressed with the pharmacy, one of the best in the Defense Department, I believe. My dad was a doctor, and it’s the kind of clinic he would have loved.”

The Raders said they look forward to returning to Fort Myer for the grand opening of the renovated Rader Clinic.

‘‘You can tell there’s a real sense of family there,” Liz said.‘‘We definitely were made to feel a part of that family.”