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While the “Cut N Run” crowd is clamering to get as much media attention as possible for their ill-fated cause … others in this country are doing more than these folks will ever accomplish in two lifetimes.

Retired Reserve Doc Deploys Third Time

Most military members end their careers by the time they are half his age, but one Army doctor says he would rather come out of retirement to help the troops than watch from the sidelines.

Tomorrow, retired Army Reserve Col. William Bernhard, a 75-year-old surgeon, will start a journey to Afghanistan, his third deployment in the war on terror.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to serve the young men and women who, as we all know, have medical and surgical problems,” said Bernhard. “We need trained, experienced physicians to take care of them, and I feel honored that I’ve been selected to go over there and provide medical care for these troops.”

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Having joined the Marine Corps in 1950, Bernhard was soon discharged due to a knee injury, which he said was a major disappointment. He joined the Navy as an anesthesiologist and served 10 years on active and reserve duty, then switched to the Army Reserve for 22 more years.

When Bernhard leaves his home tomorrow, he will spend about five days at Fort Benning, Ga., before traveling to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. From there he’ll fly to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, then convoy into Kabul, where he will connect with the Oregon Army National Guard’s 141st Support Battalion.

“I don’t sign up when I go overseas for anesthesia because I’ve done all that,” he said. “I’d much rather sign up to be a field surgeon, which means that I can work at a battalion aide station and at a trauma station, and I sign up to work also as a flight surgeon, and that gets me flying a lot of missions and taking care of aviators.”

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