thedrifter
06-17-06, 07:17 AM
Posted on Sat, Jun. 17, 2006
75-year-old is leaving for military service
The surgeon, who will spend four months in Afghanistan, hopes this isn’t his final mission.
The Associated Press
EDGEWOOD, Md. | - EDGEWOOD, Md. | William Bernhard was distraught when a knee injury kept him out of the Marines as a young man.
But he still found a way to spend his life in the military by becoming a surgeon in the Army Reserve and National Guard.
Today, Bernhard, 75, deploys to Afghanistan for four months.
He hopes it’s not his final mission.
“As long as I can help, I’m going to help,” he said.
Bernhard, now a Defense Department medical contractor, keeps flight suits and duffel bags ready for deployment.
He periodically calls to see if the department needs retired military physicians. When the answer is yes, off he goes.
“I’ve always had a love for the military,” Bernhard said.
He says he may be the oldest person who has served in Iraq with the U.S. military, although that is difficult to determine for members of the National Guard like him who serve on contracts.
When not serving in the military, Bernhard worked in hospitals at home, including the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Ellie
75-year-old is leaving for military service
The surgeon, who will spend four months in Afghanistan, hopes this isn’t his final mission.
The Associated Press
EDGEWOOD, Md. | - EDGEWOOD, Md. | William Bernhard was distraught when a knee injury kept him out of the Marines as a young man.
But he still found a way to spend his life in the military by becoming a surgeon in the Army Reserve and National Guard.
Today, Bernhard, 75, deploys to Afghanistan for four months.
He hopes it’s not his final mission.
“As long as I can help, I’m going to help,” he said.
Bernhard, now a Defense Department medical contractor, keeps flight suits and duffel bags ready for deployment.
He periodically calls to see if the department needs retired military physicians. When the answer is yes, off he goes.
“I’ve always had a love for the military,” Bernhard said.
He says he may be the oldest person who has served in Iraq with the U.S. military, although that is difficult to determine for members of the National Guard like him who serve on contracts.
When not serving in the military, Bernhard worked in hospitals at home, including the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Ellie