'I knew they needed someone'

Image courtesy: Tiffany Nabors, The Bayonet

Col. William Bernhard has seen it all. He's directed anesthesia at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, trained for mountain warfare, and deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany to support America's post-9/11 military operations. Oh, and by the way, he is 79 years old.

When I saw this column on the U.S. Army's homepage and noticed the date was April 1, I admit that the words "April Fools joke" entered my mind. But Col. Bernhard is all business. As The Bayonet's Tiffany Nabors reported, a president's words half a century ago still ring through the soldier's ears as he unretires for the fourth time.

"JFK once said, 'Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country,'" Bernhard said. "And I've always tried to do that."

Dr. Bernhard recently trained at Georgia's Fort Benning before deploying to Germany. He will be conducting physicals, as well as caring for servicemembers suffering from illnesses or injuries.

60 years ago, an injury prevented Berhard from completing a Platoon Leaders Course for the Marines. Yet the setback led him to his true calling, medicine, while also circling back to serving his country. Bernhard, unlike Brett Favre, said plans for his next retirement are final, and half a year in Germany will mark his final deployment.

"I knew they needed someone," he said. And although he will miss his wife, dog and hobbies while away, Bernhard said, "I'm excited about going because it's a job that needs to be done."

My father is a physician, who was called up to active duty as a reservist during Desert Storm. My grandfathers served in World War II. While I am proud of their contributions to their respective generations, I am amazed by Col. William Bernhard's cross-generational impact on our country. But one of his finest qualities, perhaps, is that he apparently doesn't think we have anything to be amazed about. In the doctor's humble, brilliant mind, duty trumps age.