Born in Gostyń in Prussia's Province of Posen (in modern-day Poland), Machrowicz immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1902 and the family settled in Chicago, Illinois, later moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He then attended Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania from 1912 to 1916, and the University of Chicago in 1917.

During the First World War, he served as a lieutenant in the Polish Army of American Volunteers in Canada, France and Poland from 1917 to 1920.

He served with the American Advisory Commission to Polish Government in 1920 and 1921 and also acted as war correspondent with Floyd Gibbons in Poland from 1919 to 1921.

[2] His service was terminated on February 17, 1970, due to his death in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan.